Escherichia coli is not a suitable fecal indicator to assess water fecal contamination by otters

Abstract

The detection of pathogenic microorganisms in aquatic environments is extremely relevant in terms of public health. As these laboratorial methodologies are usually difficult, expensive and time-consuming, they are frequently replaced by the assessment of fecal indicator bacteria, such as Escherichia coli. This study aimed to assess the presence of E. coli in fecal samples from Neotropical otters, to evaluate its potential as fecal indicator to be applied to the determination of water microbiological quality in areas where otters' populations are high. Twenty-six otter fecal samples, collected in Alto Paranapanema river basin, São Paulo State, Brazil, were analyzed for the presence of E. coli, using conventional bacteriological methods. Only 8 scat samples (30%) were E. coli positive, indicating that this microorganism is not a suitable fecal indicator to assess water fecal contamination by Neotropical otters, and should not be used to infer the presence of otter related pathogens in waters.

Evaluation of Water Quality of Buritis Lake

“…As a consequence of the results observed, it is clear that this practice is unsafe, since pathogenic microorganisms can contaminate these foods [33]. De Oliveira et al [15] also report contamination of water by TC and TTC at the source of the Barreirinho stream, located at Ibirité municipality, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The contamination possibly occurred through the discharge of urban waste.…”

“…Among these pathogenic microorganisms, enterobacteria are quite expressive, belonging to the bacillary family, Gram-negative, aerobic or anaerobic bacteria, and mobile or immobile, which parasitize the intestines of humans and other mammals. Waterborne diseases have as their main pathogenic agents those associated with the digestive tract, the fecal-oral route being their main form of infection [15]. Attachment XX of Consolidation Ordinance Nº 5 of the Ministry of Health [16] has quality control standards for water sources, with the purpose of producing and supplying water for human consumption and determines that water sources must be analyzed in order to quantify the number of Escherichia coli colonies, the main representative of the enterobacteria family.…”

Diversity and Distribution of Escherichia coli in Three Species of Free-Ranging Australian Pinniped Pups

“…Marine mammals are considered sentinels of ocean health with marine mammal health status providing insights into the health of the wider marine ecosystem (Bossart, 2010). Escherichia coli has been isolated from a number of aquatic mammal species including pinnipeds (Stoddard et al, 2008(Stoddard et al, , 2009Wallace et al, 2013;Delport et al, 2015;Power et al, 2016;Fulham et al, 2018;Mora et al, 2018), cetaceans (Schaefer et al, 2011;Melendez et al, 2019) and river otters (Oliveira et al, 2018). Despite this, little is known about the host and environmental factors that influence the diversity and prevalence of E. coli in marine mammals.…”

Water for Domestic Animal Drinking Based on the Categorization of Species in an Urban Brazilian Slum

“…In some cases, upper limits for different compounds are not even required, indicating the need for standardization. It is also noteworthy that, for a more consistent analysis of water safety, other parameters than just microbiological ones should be included (Oliveira et al, 2018). However, there is a consensus that coliform analysis is the main parameter.…”