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The development of a methodology to identify the origin of fecal pollution is important both for assessing the degree of risk posed to public health and for developing strategies to mitigate the environmental loading of pathogens associated with waterborne disease transmission. Five rep-PCR genomic fingerprinting methods, such as rep-PCR, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR, ERIC2-PCR, BOX-PCR and (GTG)(5)-PCR, were assessed for their potential in differentiation of 232 fecal Escherichia coli isolates obtained from humans, poultry (chicken, duck and turkey) and wild birds (Canada goose and gull). Based on the results of cluster analysis and discriminant function analysis, (GTG)(5)-PCR was found to be the most suitable method for molecular typing of fecal E. coli, followed by BOX-PCR, REP-PCR, ERIC-PCR and ERIC2-PCR. A discriminant function analysis of (GTG)(5)-PCR fingerprints showed that 94.1%, 79.8%, 80.5%, 74.4%, 86.7% and 88.6% of turkey, chicken, duck, Canada goose, gull and human E. coli isolates were classified into the correct host group, respectively. Subsequently, (GTG)(5)-PCR was tested for its ability to track the origin of 113 environmental E. coli isolated from natural pond water. In conclusion, the (GTG)(5)-PCR genomic fingerprinting method can be considered as a promising genotypic tool for epidemiological surveillance of fecal pollution in aquatic environments.

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Understanding the survival and transport of Escherichia coli in feces on land and in water is important when trying to assess contamination of water by grazing animals. A fecal-pat experiment was conducted in July and August of 2003 to investigate the survival of E. coli under 4 levels of solar exposure controlled by using shade cloth. Fresh beef cattle manure was uniformly blended to produce 2.5-and 1.6-kg fecal pats, which were placed in plastic trays or in contact with the soil and covered with 0%, 40%, 80%, or 100% shade cloth treatments and replicated 5 times. Samples from each fecal pat were collected at Time 0 to establish E. coli levels; sampling was repeated at Day 1, Day 3, and approximately weekly thereafter for 45 days to determine die-off. E. coli concentration and percent moisture were measured for each fecal sample. At the end of the experiment, fecal pats under the 0% shade cloth had the lowest E. coli concentrations, followed by the 40%, 80%, and 100% treatments, with 0.018, 0.040, 0.11, and 0.44 3 10 6 colony-forming units (CFU) g À1 , respectively. Fecal-pat size was significant only on Day 17, when large fecal pats had higher concentrations of E. coli (P , .0001). There was no significant difference (P ¼ 0.43) in E. coli concentration between the fecal pats in contact with the soil vs. those in plastic trays. Percent moisture of fecal pats was not a good covariate. Age of fecal pats, as well as exposure to solar radiation negatively influences the survival of E. coli. From a management perspective, E. coli in fecal pats under forested situations would survive longer than in open grasslands due to shading, and any possible contamination by E. coli would be greatest within 7 days of removing cattle from a riparian area or pasture. Resumen Entender la supervivencia y transporte de E. coli en las heces sobre el tierra y en el agua es importante cuando intentamos evaluar la contaminació n del agua por los animales en apacentamiento. En Julio y Agosto del 2003 se condujo un experimento con tortas de heces fecales para investigar la supervivencia del E. coli bajo cuatro niveles de exposició n solar controlada usando una tela para sombreado. Estiércol fresco de ganado bovino para carne fue mezclado uniformemente para producir tortas de 2.5 y 1.6 kg, que se colocaron en charolas o en contacto con el suelo bajo tratamientos de 0%, 40%, 80%, y 100% de sombreado repetidos cinco veces. Muestras de cada torta fecal se colectaron en el tiempo cero para establecer los niveles de E. coli y en el día uno, día tres y aproximadamente cada semana durante 45 días para determinar la diná mica de mortalidad de la bacteria. La concentració n de E. coli y humedad se midieron en cada muestreo fecal. Al final del experimento, las tortas fecales bajo 0% de sombreado tuvieron las menores concentraciones de E. coli, seguida por los tratamientos de 40%, 80%, y 100% (0.018, 0.040, 0.11, y 0.44 3 10 6 unidades formadoras de colonias (CFU) g À1 respectivamente). El tamañ o de la torta fecal fue significativo solo en el día 17, ...

Nonpoint source fecal contamination is a concern for drinking water supplies worldwide. In this study, 4812 E. coli isolates were classified to source. Results of this experiment show that the fecal coliform (FC) counts varied by year, month, and site, for each of the watersheds sampled. For both years, the lowest FC counts tended to be at the highest elevation sites followed by the drinking water intake sites at the lowest elevation. The highest FC counts tended to be at the mid-elevation sites on BX, Deer, and Duteau Creeks. The sources of E. coli varied significantly with stream for 2003 and 2004 (P < 0.001, df = 39), although the main sources of E. coli (avian, deer/elk, canine, rodent, bovine, and bear) tended to be similar between watersheds. The dominant sources of E. coli changed from 2003 (avian, deer/elk, and canine) to 2004 (avian, bovine, and rodent). It is important to look at the results of more than 1 year of source tracking data to get a better picture of the dominant sources within a watershed. Overall, wildlife was the largest contributor of E. coli to the watersheds in both 2003 (> 84%) and 2004 (> 73%).