HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Related articles in JEQ Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (10) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Eyles, R. Articles by Weinstein, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Eyles, R. Articles by Weinstein, P. Agricola Articles by Eyles, R. Articles by Weinstein, P. Related Collections Surface Water Quality Microorganisms Spatial Variability Water Pollution

TECHNICAL REPORTS

Surface Water Quality

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Campylobacter Contamination Underlying Public Health Risk in the Taieri River, New Zealand

^a Ecology and Health Research Centre, Department of Public Health, Wellington School of Medicine, PO Box 7343, Wellington South, New Zealand
^b Freshwater Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
^c Spatial Information Research Centre, Department of Information Science, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

^* Corresponding author (reyles{at}wnmeds.ac.nz).

Received for publication November 6, 2002. New Zealand's freshwater ecosystems are subject to microbial contamination from a predominantly agricultural landscape. This study examines the spatial and temporal distribution of the human pathogen Campylobacter in the lower Taieri River, South Island (New Zealand). Enumeration of thermophilic Campylobacter from river samples was performed using a most probable number (MPN) method. Seasonal variation in Campylobacter levels was evident, with higher median levels detected in summer, when human exposure through recreational water use is maximal. Campylobacter levels varied significantly among the 10 sampling sites, increasing below a major tributary entering the river and then showing a downstream decrease. These changes probably resulted from inputs from adjacent farms and instream Campylobacter losses (settling, death). Two main peaks in the flux of Campylobacter were observed, one in winter and one in summer. A decrease in notified cases of campylobacteriosis in the human population was observed when levels of Campylobacter at the main recreational bathing site on the river were low. Continuing land use change and intensification in New Zealand may lead to further increases in microbial contamination of freshwaters, and an associated increase in waterborne enteric diseases such as campylobacteriosis.

Abbreviations: MPN, most probable number

Related articles in JEQ:

This Issue in Journal of Environmental Quality

JEQ 2003 32: 1577-1582. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Schallenberg, P. J. Bremer, S. Henkel, A. Launhardt, and C. W. Burns Survival of Campylobacter jejuni in Water: Effect of Grazing by the Freshwater Crustacean Daphnia carinata (Cladocera) Appl. Envir. Microbiol., September 1, 2005; 71(9): 5085 - 5088. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]