The present study was undertaken to assess the drinking water quality of well water with respect to Escherichia coli contamination from different sources. A total of 138 drinking water samples contaminated with coliforms above 10 MPN Index per 100 mL formed the study material. A cross sectional survey was conducted for the sanitary evaluation of drinking water along with inspection of household wells and surroundings. A retrospective investigation was carried out to assess the contamination of E. coli-positive well water samples. The associated sources for E. coli contamination like, 93 human stool samples, 84 animal faecal samples, 25 bird cloacal swabs, 138 soil and 27 drainage water samples were also collected from the premises of the respective households in order to identify the source contaminating the well water. All the samples were subjected to isolation and identification of E. coli by conventional culture technique followed by molecular confirmation using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Statistical analysis using Pearson’s chi square test revealed highly significant association between the occurrence of E. coli in drinking water and sources viz., human stool, animal faeces and soil samples (p ≤ 0.01). The unassociated sources of E. coli contamination in drinking water exhibited a highly significant association with the increasing distance of well from the septic tank as well as with the presence of linings in wells and animals in the households. Hence, the study conducted for the identification of sources of E. coli contamination of drinking water signifies the importance of revised construction rules to protect the wells from contaminating sources and the need of regular and effective water treatment protocols.

Leptospirosis is an economically important zoonotic bacterial disease of cattle with global distribution. The present study investigated the seroprevalence and distribution of leptospiral serovars in cattle population in Pananchery panchayat of Thrissur district, Kerala. From 52 apparently healthy dairy cattle, serum samples were collected in both pre-monsoon and postmonsoon seasons. All samples were subjected to microscopic agglutination test (MAT) against 13 serovars of Leptospira spp. Among the samples tested, 13 (25 per cent) samples in pre-monsoon and 19 (36.54 per cent) samples in post-monsoon were found to be positive. The predominant serovars detected in pre-monsoon were Hardjo (29.41 per cent) followed by Grippotyphosa (17.64 per cent), Bataviae and Pomona (11.76 per cent each). Similarly in post-monsoon, Hardjo (28.57 per cent) followed by Grippotyphosa (23.81 per cent), and Bataviae (19.05 per cent) were identified as the most common serovars. Higher seroprevalence of disease in apparently healthy cattle in post-monsoon compared to pre-monsoon indicate the influence of rainfall on occurrence of leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis is anunderdiagnosed bacterial anthropozoonotic disease that is considered as a major public health concern in India. The present study was conducted to detect the presence of antibodies against different leptospiral serovars in slaughtered cattle in Thrissur. A total of 165 blood samples were collected from slaughtered cattle of two slaughterhouses viz., Meat Technology Unit (MTU), KVASU, Mannuthy (n=85) and Thrissur Municipal Slaughterhouse (TMS), Thrissur (n=80). The serum samples from the slaughtered cattle were subjected to Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). The overall occurrence of leptospirosis from both the slaughterhouses was 44.42 per cent. A seropositivity of 37.65 and 51.25 per cent in slaughtered cattle respectively were found by MAT from samples collected from MTU, Mannuthy and TMS, Thrissur. The predominant serovars detected in slaughtered cattle were Sejroe (28.76 per cent), Grippotyphosa (21.91 per cent) and Australis (15.06 per cent).The results revealed that the apparently healthy slaughtered cattle had been exposed to leptospirosis and could act as a source of infection to the slaughterhouse workers.