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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2009, p. 6736-6744, Vol. 75, No. 21
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00486-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Thermotolerant Coliforms Are Not a Good Surrogate for Campylobacter spp. in Environmental Water {triangledown}

Karen St-Pierre,1 Simon Lévesque,1 Eric Frost,1 Nathalie Carrier,2 Robert D. Arbeit,3 and Sophie Michaud1*

Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada,1 Centre de Recherche Clinique Étienne Le-Bel du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada,2 Infectious Diseases Section, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts3

Received 26 February 2009/ Accepted 17 August 2009

This study aimed to assess the importance of quantitatively detecting Campylobacter spp. in environmental surface water. The prevalence and the quantity of Campylobacter spp., thermotolerant coliforms, and Escherichia coli in 2,471 samples collected weekly, over a 2-year period, from 13 rivers and 12 streams in the Eastern Townships, Québec, Canada, were determined. Overall, 1,071 (43%), 1,481 (60%), and 1,463 (59%) samples were positive for Campylobacter spp., thermotolerant coliforms, and E. coli, respectively. There were weak correlations between the weekly distributions of Campylobacter spp. and thermotolerant coliforms (Spearman's {rho} coefficient = 0.27; P = 0.008) and between the quantitative levels of the two classes of organisms (Kendall tau-b correlation coefficient = 0.233; P < 0.0001). Well water samples from the Eastern Townships were also tested. Five (10%) of 53 samples from private surface wells were positive for Campylobacter jejuni, of which only 2 were positive for thermotolerant coliforms. These findings suggest that microbial monitoring of raw water by using only fecal indicator organisms is not sufficient for assessing the occurrence or the load of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. Insights into the role of environmental water as sources for sporadic Campylobacter infection will require genus-specific monitoring techniques.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Sherbrooke, 3001, 12e avenue Nord, Sherbrooke, Québec J1H 5N4, Canada. Phone: (819) 564-5321. Fax: (819) 564-5392. E-mail: Sophie.Michaud{at}USherbrooke.ca

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 4 September 2009.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2009, p. 6736-6744, Vol. 75, No. 21
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00486-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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