Monitoring of free living amoeba in some drinking water treatment plant in great Cairo Governorate, Egypt

Background: Free-living amoebae [FLAs] in drinking water exerts an indirect public health hazards as they may harbor pathogenic microorganisms that can escape drinking water treatment processes and reach to end user. The aim of this study was to observe the existence of free-living amoebae through drinking water treatment plants in Great Cairo governorate, Egypt. Water samples were collected from 3 drinking water treatment plants [DWTPs] and filtered through nitrocellulose membranes, then placed on non-nutrient agar with Escherichia coli for cultivation of free-living amoebae

Results: The obtained amoebae were morphologically identified and confirmed to genus level. The results revealed that the occurrence of free-living amoebae in intakes and finished water of the examined DWTPs reached 95% and 31%, respectively. The removal percentage of free-living amoebae through different treatment processes reached its highest rate in Rod Elfarag DWTP [100%], followed by Embaba DWTP [63.64%], and reached to [41.67%] in Shubra El-Kheima DWTPs. Almost all the morphologically identified [FLA] strains proved to be related to genus Acanthamoeba, Naegleria

Conclusion: the presence of free-living amoebae in drinking water exerts an indirect public health hazards as they may harbor pathogenic microorganisms that can escape drinking water treatment processes and reach to end user

Comparative study on copper, zinc, magnesium and iron in hydatid cyst fluid [supernatant and residue] in sheep and camel in Egypt

Aim: this study included comparative biochemical composition of micro-minerals, including Cu, Zn, Mg and Fe in hydatid cyst fluid [supernatant and residue] from liver of infected sheep and lung of infected camels

Materials and Methods: Organs with hydatid cysts were collected from El-Basateen abattoirs, Cairo, Egypt, during the period from Nov. 2014 to Dec. 2015. Flame ionization by Atomic absorption spectroscopy was used for measuring the micro-minerals concentration

Results: the current study showed: significant difference in Mg, Cu and Fe micro-minerals between cyst' supernatant [S Sh] and residue [R Sh] of infected sheep [p<0.001, p<0.05]; significant difference in only Cu micro-mineral between S Sh and cyst residue [R C] of camels [p<0.001]; significant difference in both Fe and Zn micro-mineral between cyst supernatant of infected camels [S C] and S Sh [p<0.05]; significant difference in both Mg and Fe between R Sh and R C [p<0.01]; significant difference in Mg, Fe and Zn between R Sh and S C [p<0.01, p<0.001] and significant difference in Fe and Zn between S C and R C [p<0.001, p<0.01]. Cu was the highest while Mg was the lowest concentration of all tested minerals in both S Sh and S C but Fe was the highest and Zn was the lowest concentration of all tested minerals in both R Sh and R C

Conclusions: in the current work, the parasite that was located in both sheep and camel is characterized by having high levels of Copper in the cyst fluid and of iron in the scolecies. Binding a scolecidal drug with either copper or iron may enhance its efficacy