Microbiological Water Quality Monitoring in a Resource-Limited Urban Area: a Study in Cameroon; Africa

In resource-limited developing nations; such as Cameroon; the expense of modern water-quality monitoring techniques is prohibitive to frequent water testing; as is done in the developed world. Inexpensive; shelf-stable 3MT PetrifilmT Escherichia coli/Coliform Count Plates potentially can provide significant opportunity for routine water-quality monitoring in the absence of infrastructure for state-of-the-art testing. We used shelf-stable E. coli/coliform culture plates to assess the water quality at twenty sampling sites in Kumbo; Cameroon. Culture results from treated and untreated sources were compared to modern bacterial DNA pyrosequencing methods using established bioinformatics and statistical tools. Petrifilms were reproducible between replicates and sampling dates. Additionally; cultivation on Petrifilms suggests that treatment by the Kumbo Water Authority (KWA) greatly improves water quality as compared with untreated river and rainwater. The majority of sequences detected were representative of common water and soil microbes; with a minority of sequences (40) identified as belonging to genera common in fecal matter and/or causes of human disease. Water sources had variable DNA sequence counts that correlated significantly with the culture count data and may therefore be a proxy for bacterial load. Although the KWA does not meet Western standards for water quality (less than one coliform per 100 mL); KWA piped water is safer than locally available alternative water sources such as river and rainwater. The culture-based technology described is easily transferrable to resource-limited areas and provides local water authorities with valuable microbiological safety information with potential to protect public health in developing nations

Utilizaçäo de bactérias e fungos como indicadores na avaliaçäo de fatores fisiográficos que interferem nos processos de auto-depuraçäo de um córrego sub-tropical / Utilization of bacteria and fungi as indicators in the evaluation of physiographyc factors that interfere in the self-depuration process in a subtropical stream

O estudo de autodepuraçäo de um córrego sub-tropical, córrego do Agriäo, afluente do Rio Jacaré-Pepira, S. P., que recebe afluentes de resíduos domésticos e pecuários foi efetuado utilizando-se indicadores biológicos: coliformes totais (CT) e fecais (CF), estreptococos fecais (EF), fungos aquáticos e geofungos. O período de estudo abrangeu duas estiagens e um período de chuvas. Foi observada a influência das condiçöes fisiográficas na auto-depuraçäo do curso d'água. A relaçäo CF/EF possibilitou a caracterizaçäo da origem dos despejos e constatou-se que o número de leveduras, (U.F.C./ml), foi bom indicador de poluiçäo de origem fecal, o que näo ocorreu com bolores aquáticos e terrestres

Surveillance for typhoid fever in Matsuyama city during 1974-1981 and detection of Salmonella typhi in sewage and river waters.

Eighty-two cases of typhoid fever were found in Matsuyama city in the period from 1974 to 1981. Seventy-six cases were found to be infected with Salmonella typhi other three with Salmonella paratyphi A, and the remaining three were diagnosed only clinically. The strains of S. typhi isolated from these patients showed such a variety of Vi-phage types as D1, D2, E1, M1, 53 and degraded Vi-positive strain (DVS). The concurrent survey of the city sewage and river waters for typhoid bacilli was conducted with total 578 samples taken therefrom. S. typhi was isolated from 120 of those samples. The Vi-phage types of the isolates were closely related with those of the isolates from the patients. The periodical examinations of the city sewage and the draining river may serve as a useful means for the controlling typhoid fever epidemics.

Drugs from the sea--fact or fantasy?

Drugs from the sea are as much a potential marine resource as cultivated fish, and mineral deposits. The study of the chemical structure and properties of unusual metabolic products of marine life is a subject where marine ecology and the experimental sciences of chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology and medicine share a common and complementary interest. The development of ad hoc collaboration between specialists has advanced basic knowledge and resulted in a significant feedback to marine biology and ecology as well as in the development of some useful drugs.