Faecal contamination of a municipal drinking water distribution system in association with Campylobacter jejuni infections

Abstract

After heavy rains Campylobacter jejuni together with high counts of Escherichia coli, other coliforms and intestinal enterococci were detected from drinking water of a municipal distribution system in eastern Finland in August 2004. Three patients with a positive C. jejuni finding, who had drunk the contaminated water, were identified and interviewed. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) genotypes from the patient samples were identical to some of the genotypes isolated from the water of the suspected contamination source. In addition, repetitive DNA element analysis (rep-PCR) revealed identical patterns of E. coli and other coliform isolates along the distribution line.Further on-site technical investigations revealed that one of the two rainwater gutters on the roof of the water storage tower had been in an incorrect position and rainwater had flushed a large amount of faecal material from wild birds into the drinking water. The findings required close co-operation between civil authorities, and application of cultivation and genotyping techniques strongly suggested that the municipal drinking water was the source of the infections. The faecal contamination associated with failures in cleaning and technical management stress the importance of instructions for waterworks personnel to perform maintenance work properly.

Decreasing Trend of Overlapping Multilocus Sequence Types between Human and Chicken Campylobacter jejuni Isolates over a Decade in Finland

“…Between 1996 and 2007, approximately 45 to 55% of all registered infections were reported between June and September (http://www3.ktl.fi/stat/). In contrast to sporadic Campylobacter infections, outbreaks of campylobacteriosis are uncommon, usually occurring in spring or autumn, and are associated with drinking contaminated water (36).…”

Knowledge of measures to safeguard harvested rainwater quality in rural domestic households

“…This finding does not exclude the notion that the harvested rainwater might not be perceived as 'clean enough' (see Foltz 1999). Nor does it contradict the finding that in water collected directly from a roof and stored above the ground, bacterial contamination should be minimal or absent, unless the roof is accessible to humans or animals (Gould & McPherson 1987;Xijing et al 1995;Bambrah & Haq 1997;Zobrist et al 2000;Sazakli et al 2007;Pitkä nen et al 2008). Besides, to achieve broad health impact, greater attention should be given to proper use of water for person and domestic hygiene in addition to drinking-water quality (Briscoe 1984;Clasen & Cairncross 2004;Wright et al 2004).…”

“…It is thus necessary not only to install rainwater harvesting systems, but also to better understand public knowledge of the physical and non-physical features of these systems, as well as of measures to safeguard the quality of the water collected in the tanks. Indeed, there is often a lack of proper measures to prevent contaminants from entering tanks (Thomas & Martinson 2007), and waterborne diseases are widespread (Gould & McPherson 1987;Krishna 1989;Pitkä nen et al 2008).…”

Members of the family Campylobacteraceae: Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli

“…seem to be often colonized. Epidemiological studies show evidence that fecal contamination of non-disinfected drinking water by wild bird feces has been associated to some waterborne outbreaks (Pitkänen et al, 2008). However, comparison of wild bird and human patient isolates seldom indicate overlapping sero-or genotypes thus making final conclusion on the role of wild birds as contamination sources unclear.…”