Usefulness of faecal Streps as indicator of presence of Salmonella sp. and Vibrio cholerae in sewage effluents
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Date
2009
Authors
Marita, M.R.
Okemo, P. O.
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Abstract
Enteric pathogens are the most frequent cause of diarrheal illness, which account for an annual mortality rate of three
million people and an estimated four billion infection worldwide. One way of preventing this is by ensuring proper
sewage treatment. The study was carried out to provide data for level of microbiological contamination as well as
baseline data for the future assessment and monitoring of pollution levels of sewage lagoons around Kenyatta university
sewage treatment plant. It was also aim to find out the indicator organism that is suitable for the assessment and
monitoring of faecal pollution. This paper contains the results of isolation, identification and quantification of faecal
coliforms, streps, Salmonella sp. and Vibrio cholerae from Kenyatta university sewage treatments ponds. For the faecal
coliforms, detection and quantification was done using the Most Probable Number (MPN) technique. The isolation and
enumeration of faecal streps, Salmonella sp. and V. cholerae was done using standard methods. Correlation of faecal
coliforms with Salmonella sp. and V. cholerae was 85% and 2% respectively. For the faecal streps, correlation with
Salmonella sp. and V. cholerae was 78% and 12% respectively. This indicates that faecal streps should be included as
indicator organisms of the potential health hazards of polluted water. Most international drinking water quality guidelines
and standards include bacterial indicators as a measure of microbial water quality, and for compliance reporting. The
results from the study support the idea of using both the faecal streps and coliforms as indicators of faecal pollution.
Description
Available at web.usm.my/mjm/issues/vol5no1/research4.pdf
Keywords
faecal coliforms, faecal streps, Salmonella sp.,, Vibrio cholerae
Citation
Malaysian Journal of Microbiology, Vol 5(1) 2009, pp. 19-24