Vibrios and other enteric pathogens can be found in wastewater effluents of a healthy population. We assessed the prevalence of three non-cholerae vibrios in wastewater effluents of 14 wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in Chris Hani and Amathole district municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa for a period of 12 months. With the exception of WWTP10 where presumptive vibrios were not detected in summer and spring, presumptive vibrios were detected in all seasons in other WWTP effluents. When a sample of 1,000 presumptive Vibrio isolates taken from across all sampling sites were subjected to molecular confirmation for Vibrio, 668 were confirmed to belong to the genus Vibrio, giving a prevalence rate of 66.8 %. Further, molecular characterisation of 300 confirmed Vibrio isolates revealed that 11.6 % (35) were Vibrio parahaemolyticus, 28.6 % (86) were Vibrio fluvialis and 28 % (84) were Vibrio vulnificus while 31.8 % (95) belonged to other Vibrio spp. not assayed for in this study. Antibiogram profiling of the three Vibrio species showed that V. parahaemolyticus was ≥50 % susceptible to 8 of the test antibiotics and ≥50 % resistant to only 5 of the 13 test antibiotics, while V. vulnificus showed a susceptibility profile of ≥50 % to 7 of the test antibiotics and a resistance profile of ≥50 % to 6 of the 13 test antibiotics. V. fluvialis showed ≥50 % resistance to 8 of the 13 antibiotics used while showing ≥50 % susceptibility to only 4 antibiotics used. All three Vibrio species were susceptible to gentamycin, cefuroxime, meropenem and imipenem. Multiple antibiotic resistance patterns were also evident especially against such antibiotics as tetracyclin, polymixin B, penicillin G, sulfamethazole and erythromycin against which all Vibrio species were resistant. These results indicate a significant threat to public health, more so in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa which is characterised by widespread poverty, with more than a third of the population directly relying on surface water sources for drinking and daily use.

We assessed the occurrence of Vibrio pathogens in the final effluents of five wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in Amathole and Chris Hani District Municipalities in South Africa over a 12 months period between September 2012 and August 2013 using standard membrane filtration technique followed by cultivation on thiosulphate citrate-bile salts-sucrose (TCBS) agar. The identities of the presumptive Vibrio isolates were confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) including delineation into V. parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus and V. fluvialis pathotypes. The counts of Vibrio spp. varied with months in all the study sites and ranged in the order of 101 and 104 CFU/100mL. Vibrio distribution also showed seasonality with high counts being obtained in autumn and spring (p < 0.05). Prevalence of Vibrio spp. among the five WWTPs also differed significantly (p < 0.05). Of the 300 isolates that were confirmed as belonging to the Vibrio genus, 29% (86) were V. fluvialis, 28% (84) were V. vulnificus and 12% (35) were V. parahaemolyticus. The isolation of Vibrio pathogens from the final effluent suggests that this pathogen is in circulation in some pockets of the population and that the WWTPs under study do not efficiently remove bacterial pathogens from the wastewater and consequently are threats to public health.

Vibrios and other enteric pathogens can be found in wastewater effluents of a healthy population. We assessed the prevalence of three non-cholerae vibrios in wastewater effluents of 14 wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in Chris Hani and Amathole district municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa for a period of 12 months. With the exception of WWTP10 where presumptive vibrios were not detected in summer and spring, presumptive vibrios were detected in all seasons in other WWTP effluents. When a sample of 1,000 presumptive Vibrio isolates taken from across all sampling sites were subjected to molecular confirmation for Vibrio, 668 were confirmed to belong to the genus Vibrio, giving a prevalence rate of 66.8 %. Further, molecular characterisation of 300 confirmed Vibrio isolates revealed that 11.6 % (35) were Vibrio parahaemolyticus, 28.6 % (86) were Vibrio fluvialis and 28 % (84) were Vibrio vulnificus while 31.8 % (95) belonged to other Vibrio spp. not assayed for in this study. Antibiogram profiling of the three Vibrio species showed that V. parahaemolyticus was ≥50 % susceptible to 8 of the test antibiotics and ≥50 % resistant to only 5 of the 13 test antibiotics, while V. vulnificus showed a susceptibility profile of ≥50 % to 7 of the test antibiotics and a resistance profile of ≥50 % to 6 of the 13 test antibiotics. V. fluvialis showed ≥50 % resistance to 8 of the 13 antibiotics used while showing ≥50 % susceptibility to only 4 antibiotics used. All three Vibrio species were susceptible to gentamycin, cefuroxime, meropenem and imipenem. Multiple antibiotic resistance patterns were also evident especially against such antibiotics as tetracyclin, polymixin B, penicillin G, sulfamethazole and erythromycin against which all Vibrio species were resistant. These results indicate a significant threat to public health, more so in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa which is characterised by widespread poverty, with more than a third of the population directly relying on surface water sources for drinking and daily use.

Background: Peltophorum africanum has been traditionally used to relief stress induced diseases. The study was aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activities of ethyl acetate extract. Material and methods: The in vitro antioxidant activities of Peltophorum africanum stem bark extract was examined in this study by means of +radical scavenging and ferric reducing power analysis using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2, 2`-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) kit, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), iron (iii) chloride (Fe3+) and nitric oxide (NO). In assessing the likely effects of secondary metabolites on the activities observed; total proanthocyanidins, phenolics, flavonols, and flavonoids were determined using standard phytochemical methods. Data was analyzed by ANOVA test and the p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Extract scavenging activity of 88.73± 6.69 % (25 µg mL-1), 53.93±1.09 % (25 µg mL-1), 87.293±6.64 % (25 µg mL-1), 10.55±2.16 mM (0.42 mM) and 3.8115±0.06 (25 µg mL-1) were recorded for H2O2, NO, DPPH, ABTS and Fe3+ reducing power respectively. These values were comparable to the standard compounds; DBPC*BHT, L (+) - Ascorbic acid and Trolox™ (p < 0.05). Proanthocyanidins (92.18±4.68 mg/g) occurred more (p < 0.05) in the extract when compared to all other compounds tested: phenolics (60.53±1.46 mg/g) > flavonoids (18.37± 2.11 mg/g), > flavonols (11.20±3.90 mg/g). However the difference between flavonols and flavonoids was not significant (p > 0.05) at 95% confidence interval. Conclusion: The results of this study validated the folkloric use of P. africanum which could be exploited as an easily available and a cheaper source of natural antioxidants.