TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of Shiga-toxigenic and atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli in untreated surface water and reclaimed water in the Mid-Atlantic U.S
AU - Haymaker, Joseph
AU - Sharma, Manan
AU - Parveen, Salina
AU - Hashem, Fawzy
AU - May, Eric B.
AU - Handy, Eric T.
AU - White, Chanelle
AU - East, Cheryl
AU - Bradshaw, Rhodel
AU - Micallef, Shirley A.
AU - Callahan, Mary Theresa
AU - Allard, Sarah
AU - Anderson, Brienna
AU - Craighead, Shani
AU - Gartley, Samantha
AU - Vanore, Adam
AU - Kniel, Kalmia E.
AU - Solaiman, Sultana
AU - Bui, Anthony
AU - Murray, Rianna
AU - Craddock, Hillary A.
AU - Kulkarni, Prachi
AU - Foust, Derek
AU - Duncan, Rico
AU - Taabodi, Maryam
AU - Sapkota, Amy R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - The microbial quality of irrigation water has increasingly become a concern as a source of contamination for fruits and vegetables. Non-traditional sources of water are being used by more and more growers in smaller, highly diversified farms in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Shiga-toxigenic E. coli (STEC) have been responsible for several outbreaks of infections associated with the consumption of leafy greens. Our study evaluated the prevalence of the “big seven” STEC serogroups and the associated enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) virulence factors (VF) genes in conventional and nontraditional irrigation waters in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Water samples (n = 510) from 170 sampling events were collected from eight untreated surface water sites, two wastewater reclamation facilities, and one vegetable processing plant, over a 12-month period. Ten liters of water were filtered through Modified Moore swabs (MMS); swabs were then enriched into Universal Pre-enrichment Broth (UPB), followed by enrichment into non-O157 STEC R&F broth and isolation on R & F non-O157 STEC chromogenic plating medium. Isolates (n = 2489) from enriched MMS from water samples were screened for frequently reported STEC serogroups that cause foodborne illness: O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, O145, and O157, along with VF genes stx1, stx2, eae, and ehxA. Through this screening process, STEC isolates were found in 2.35% (12/510) of water samples, while 9.0% (46/510) contained an atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (aEPEC) isolate. The eae gene (n = 88 isolates) was the most frequently detected EHEC VF of the isolates screened. The majority of STEC isolates (stx1 or stx2) genes mainly came from either a pond or reclamation pond water site on two specific dates, potentially indicating that these isolates were not spatially or temporally distributed among the sampling sites. STEC isolates at reclaimed water sites may have been introduced after wastewater treatment. None of the isolates containing eae were determined to be Escherichia albertii. Our work showed that STEC prevalence in Mid-Atlantic untreated surface waters over a 12-month period was lower than the prevalence of atypical EPEC.
AB - The microbial quality of irrigation water has increasingly become a concern as a source of contamination for fruits and vegetables. Non-traditional sources of water are being used by more and more growers in smaller, highly diversified farms in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Shiga-toxigenic E. coli (STEC) have been responsible for several outbreaks of infections associated with the consumption of leafy greens. Our study evaluated the prevalence of the “big seven” STEC serogroups and the associated enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) virulence factors (VF) genes in conventional and nontraditional irrigation waters in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Water samples (n = 510) from 170 sampling events were collected from eight untreated surface water sites, two wastewater reclamation facilities, and one vegetable processing plant, over a 12-month period. Ten liters of water were filtered through Modified Moore swabs (MMS); swabs were then enriched into Universal Pre-enrichment Broth (UPB), followed by enrichment into non-O157 STEC R&F broth and isolation on R & F non-O157 STEC chromogenic plating medium. Isolates (n = 2489) from enriched MMS from water samples were screened for frequently reported STEC serogroups that cause foodborne illness: O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, O145, and O157, along with VF genes stx1, stx2, eae, and ehxA. Through this screening process, STEC isolates were found in 2.35% (12/510) of water samples, while 9.0% (46/510) contained an atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (aEPEC) isolate. The eae gene (n = 88 isolates) was the most frequently detected EHEC VF of the isolates screened. The majority of STEC isolates (stx1 or stx2) genes mainly came from either a pond or reclamation pond water site on two specific dates, potentially indicating that these isolates were not spatially or temporally distributed among the sampling sites. STEC isolates at reclaimed water sites may have been introduced after wastewater treatment. None of the isolates containing eae were determined to be Escherichia albertii. Our work showed that STEC prevalence in Mid-Atlantic untreated surface waters over a 12-month period was lower than the prevalence of atypical EPEC.
KW - Atypical enteropathogenic E. coli
KW - Escherichia albertii
KW - Escherichia coli
KW - Irrigation water
KW - Mid-Atlantic U.S.
KW - Shiga toxin
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062843148&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2019.02.019
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2019.02.019
M3 - Article
C2 - 30878734
AN - SCOPUS:85062843148
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 172
SP - 630
EP - 636
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
ER -