Deposition rates of ®ne sediment into brown trout spawning gravels were measured at monthly intervals for a period of one year in a small channel of the River Test, Hampshire. Data were also collected on stream discharge, water depth,¯ow velocity and suspended sediment concentrations. Deposition rates followed a seasonal pattern and were maximal during periods of high discharge in the late winter/early spring when suspended sediment concentrations were high. The material deposited in the spawning gravels included silts and ®ne sands (5250 mm) that were transported in suspension and coarser fragments of low density tufalike material that were transported as bed load. The ecological implications of ®ne sediment deposition for salmonid egg survival in chalk streams are considered.

Abstract:Water temperatures within brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) spawning gravels were measured in two Hampshire chalk streams from October 1995 to April 1996 inclusive. During the winter, mean intra-gravel water temperatures were higher than those in the stream, and increased with depth in the gravel bed. The amplitude of diel uctuations in water temperature decreased with depth in the gravel bed, although diel¯uctuations were still evident at a depth of 30 cm. Dierences in intra-gravel temperature gradients between the two study sites were attributed to dierences in the amplitude of stream water temperature¯uctuations and there was no evidence that either of the study sites were located in zones of upwelling groundwater. Published equations are used to predict, from temperature, the timing of important stages in the development of brown trout embryos (eyeing, hatching and emergence) for eggs spawned in the autumn and winter and buried at dierent depths in the gravel bed.

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The first documented British outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O55:H7 began in the county of Dorset, England, in July 2014. Since then, there have been a total of 31 cases of which 13 presented with haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS). The outbreak strain had Shiga toxin (Stx) subtype 2a associated with an elevated risk of HUS. This strain had not previously been isolated from humans or animals in England. The only epidemiological link was living in or having close links to two areas in Dorset. Extensive investigations included testing of animals and household pets. Control measures included extended screening, iterative interviewing and exclusion of cases and high risk contacts. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) confirmed that all the cases were infected with similar strains. A specific source could not be identified. The combination of epidemiological investigation and WGS indicated, however, that this outbreak was possibly caused by recurrent introductions from a local endemic zoonotic source, that a highly similar endemic reservoir appears to exist in the Republic of Ireland but has not been identified elsewhere, and that a subset of cases was associated with human-to-human transmission in a nursery.

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