Citation:

Harwood, V., A. Korajkic, M. Verbyla, M. Iriarte, AND O. Shanks. General and Host-Associated Bacterial Indicators of Faecal Pollution. Chapter 2, J B Rose and B Jimenez-Cisneros (ed.), Global Water Pathogen Project. Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, , 1-38, (2018). https://doi.org/10.14321/waterpathogens.6

Impact/Purpose:

Faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are used worldwide to warn of faecal and sewage contamination, and of associated human health risk from waterborne pathogens when levels are elevated. Ideally, FIB are non-pathogenic, and include bacteria such as thermotolerant (faecal) coliforms, Escherichia coli, enterococci, bifidobacteria, Bacteroidales, and Clostridium perfringens. FIB are widely distributed in the faeces of humans, and most other animals. Their levels in sewage and human faeces are high enough that they can usually be detected in faecal-contaminated surface waters. Current use of FIB in regulatory settings is reviewed in this chapter, as well as their ecology, persistence, and density in faeces, sewage, soil/sediments, biosolids and sewage sludge (primary and secondary). Although FIB have served as useful sentinels of contaminated water for many decades, changing needs in water quality management and better understanding of FIB ecology have revealed several shortcomings, such as extended persistence or even replication in some environmental habitats, as well as different levels of resistance to wastewater treatment and disinfection systems compared to some pathogens. The ubiquitous distribution of FIB across different animal pollution sources, which is quite useful for assessing drinking water quality, can be limiting for many surface water quality applications. The faecal pollution source is frequently important in contaminated surface waters because mitigation strategies and human health risk differ greatly depending upon the particular source of faecal pollution present. The field of microbial source tracking (MST) offers a diverse set of methodologies designed to identify human and other faecal contamination sources. This chapter discusses MST methods designed to identify bacteria that are associated with human waste, while also including a brief overview of procedures targeting waste from ruminant, porcine, and avian animal groups. Excreta from these animals may result in elevated concentrations of FIB in water sources that do not contain contamination from human excreta. Given that MST is a relatively new approach to assessing faecal pollution, potential applications and importance of emerging technologies are also explored.  

Description:

A book chapter for Global Water Pathogens Project for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are used worldwide to warn of faecal and sewage contamination, and of associated human health risk from waterborne pathogens when levels are elevated. Ideally, FIB are non-pathogenic, and include bacteria such as thermotolerant (faecal) coliforms, Escherichia coli, enterococci, bifidobacteria, Bacteroidales, and Clostridium perfringens. FIB are widely distributed in the faeces of humans, and most other animals. Their levels in sewage and human faeces are high enough that they can usually be detected in faecal-contaminated surface waters. Current use of FIB in regulatory settings is reviewed in this chapter, as well as their ecology, persistence, and density in faeces, sewage, soil/sediments, biosolids and sewage sludge (primary and secondary). Although FIB have served as useful sentinels of contaminated water for many decades, changing needs in water quality management and better understanding of FIB ecology have revealed several shortcomings, such as extended persistence or even replication in some environmental habitats, as well as different levels of resistance to wastewater treatment and disinfection systems compared to some pathogens. The ubiquitous distribution of FIB across different animal pollution sources, which is quite useful for assessing drinking water quality, can be limiting for many surface water quality applications. The faecal pollution source is frequently important in contaminated surface waters because mitigation strategies and human health risk differ greatly depending upon the particular source of faecal pollution present. The field of microbial source tracking (MST) offers a diverse set of methodologies designed to identify human and other faecal contamination sources. This chapter discusses MST methods designed to identify bacteria that are associated with human waste, while also including a brief overview of procedures targeting waste from ruminant, porcine, and avian animal groups. Excreta from these animals may result in elevated concentrations of FIB in water sources that do not contain contamination from human excreta. Given that MST is a relatively new approach to assessing faecal pollution, potential applications and importance of emerging technologies are also explored.  

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