Fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Manure-Amended Soil

Abstract

Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells survived for up to 77, >226, and 231 days in manure-amended autoclaved soil held at 5, 15, and 21°C, respectively. Pathogen populations declined more rapidly in manure-amended unautoclaved soil under the same conditions, likely due to antagonistic interactions with indigenous soil microorganisms. E. coli O157:H7 cells were inactivated more rapidly in both autoclaved and unautoclaved soils amended with manure at a ratio of 1 part manure to 10 parts soil at 15 and 21°C than in soil samples containing dilute amounts of manure. The manure-to-soil ratio, soil temperature, and indigenous microorganisms of the soil appear to be contributory factors to the pathogen's survival in manure-amended soil.

Survival of Escherichia coli in the environment: fundamental and public health aspects

“…The latter was shown to occur for E. coli O157 in the environmental protozoan Acanthamoeba polyphaga (Barker et al, 1999). In contrast, the cumulative effect of the total indigenous microflora on E. coli survival is often negative as a result of predation, substrate competition and antagonism (Jiang et al, 2002;Unc et al, 2006;Semenov et al, 2007). Contrary to the declining populations that are often seen in natural habitats, populations of E. coli can increase in such substrates under sterile conditions, that is, without predatory, antagonistic or competing organisms.…”

“…On the other hand, the fate of E. coli populations under complex natural conditions is often not accurately predictable . Although the conditions for survival of E. coli in soil, manure and water are considered to be less favourable than in the intestinal system (Tauxe et al, 1997), the organism has been observed to survive for days (at physiological (430 1C) temperature, aerobic and under nutrient-limiting conditions) to almost a year in the former habitats (Kudva et al, 1998;Fukushima et al, 1999;Jiang et al, 2002).…”

“…General observations on E. coli survival E. coli can, to varying extents, survive in different open environments such as soil, manure and water (Kudva et al, 1998;Jiang et al, 2002;Vital et al, 2008). There are also possibilities for migration between these habitats.…”

Long-term field application of sewage sludge increases the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in soil

“…This phenomenon may be due, at least partly, to potential changes in soil microbial composition including the native soil antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) after the application of chemical fertilizer (Forsberg et al, 2014). Although chemical fertilizer had some effects on soil ARGs, these effects, not surprisingly, are weaker when compared with sewage sludge or chicken manure, considering that manure is rich in ARGs and ARBs , Jiang et al, 2002Ghosh and LaPara, 2007) and most ARGs are discharged from the municipal wastewater treatment process in the form of sewage sludge (Munir et al, 2011). However, land application of animal manure or sewage sludge does not universally increase ARGs in soils (Zhou et al, 2010) and this increase is not maintained long-term (Fahrenfeld et al, 2014).…”

Development of a risk-based index for source water protection planning, which supports the reduction of pathogens from agricultural activity entering water resources

“…The majority of storage systems are opentopped, so they collect precipitation but allow free gaseous exchange. Poor maintenance and earthen storages can lead to groundwater pollution (Rowsell et al, 1985; Table 2 Persistence of potentially pathogenic organisms in manure (based on Wang et al, 1996;Jiang et al, 2002;Bach et al, 2005a) Organism Persistence under experimental conditions (days) Barrington et al, 1991). Earthen storage, in areas with shallow bedrock, pervious soils, and shallow water tables endanger water supplies unless artificial liners are used (Barrington et al, 1991).…”