IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v14y2017i3p320-d93588.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Abundance of Pathogenic Escherichia coli Virulence-Associated Genes in Well and Borehole Water Used for Domestic Purposes in a Peri-Urban Community of South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Akebe Luther King Abia

    (Departments of Biotechnology, Vaal University of Technology, Private Bag X021, Andries Potgieter Blvd, Vanderbijlpark 1911, South Africa)

  • Lisa Schaefer

    (Natural Resources and the Environment, CSIR, P.O. Box 395, Pretoria 0001, South Africa)

  • Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa

    (Natural Resources and the Environment, CSIR, P.O. Box 395, Pretoria 0001, South Africa)

  • Wouter Le Roux

    (Natural Resources and the Environment, CSIR, P.O. Box 395, Pretoria 0001, South Africa)

Abstract

In the absence of pipe-borne water, many people in Africa, especially in rural communities, depend on alternative water sources such as wells, boreholes and rivers for household and personal hygiene. Poor maintenance and nearby pit latrines, however, lead to microbial pollution of these sources. We evaluated the abundance of Escherichia coli and the prevalence of pathogenic E. coli virulence genes in water from wells, boreholes and a river in a South African peri-urban community. Monthly samples were collected between August 2015 and November 2016. In all, 144 water samples were analysed for E. coli using the Colilert 18 system. Virulence genes ( eagg , eaeA , stx1 , stx2 , flichH7 , ST , ipaH , ibeA ) were investigated using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Mean E. coli counts ranged between 0 and 443.1 Most Probable Number (MPN)/100 mL of water sample. Overall, 99.3% of samples were positive for at least one virulence gene studied, with flicH7 being the most detected gene (81/140; 57.6%) and the stx2 gene the least detected gene (8/140; 5.7%). Both intestinal and extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli genes were detected. The detection of virulence genes in these water sources suggests the presence of potentially pathogenic E. coli strains and is a public health concern.

Suggested Citation

  • Akebe Luther King Abia & Lisa Schaefer & Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa & Wouter Le Roux, 2017. "Abundance of Pathogenic Escherichia coli Virulence-Associated Genes in Well and Borehole Water Used for Domestic Purposes in a Peri-Urban Community of South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-11, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:3:p:320-:d:93588
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/3/320/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/3/320/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sean D. Reid & Corinne J. Herbelin & Alyssa C. Bumbaugh & Robert K. Selander & Thomas S. Whittam, 2000. "Parallel evolution of virulence in pathogenic Escherichia coli," Nature, Nature, vol. 406(6791), pages 64-67, July.
    2. Nolonwabo Nontongana & Timothy Sibanda & Elvis Ngwenya & Anthony I. Okoh, 2014. "Prevalence and Antibiogram Profiling of Escherichia coli Pathotypes Isolated from the Kat River and the Fort Beaufort Abstraction Water," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Lesley-Anne Caine & Uchechukwu U. Nwodo & Anthony I. Okoh & Roland N. Ndip & Ezekiel Green, 2014. "Occurrence of Virulence Genes Associated with Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli Isolated from Raw Cow’s Milk from Two Commercial Dairy Farms in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-14, November.
    4. Lobina Palamuleni & Mercy Akoth, 2015. "Physico-Chemical and Microbial Analysis of Selected Borehole Water in Mahikeng, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-12, July.
    5. Afsatou N. Traoré & Khodani Mulaudzi & Gamuchirai J.E. Chari & Stefan H. Foord & Lutendo S. Mudau & Tobias G. Barnard & Natasha Potgieter, 2016. "The Impact of Human Activities on Microbial Quality of Rivers in the Vhembe District, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-13, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohora Feida Malebatja & Mpata Mathildah Mokgatle, 2022. "Diarrhoea among Children Aged 5 Years and Microbial Drinking Water Quality Compliance: Trends Analysis Study in South Africa (2008–2018)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Tsolanku Sidney Maliehe & Nelisiwe Mavingo & Tlou Nelson Selepe & Peter Masoko & Frederick Mokibelo Mashao & Neville Nyamutswa, 2024. "Quantitative Assessment of Human Health Risks Associated with Heavy Metal and Bacterial Pollution in Groundwater from Mankweng in Limpopo Province, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(11), pages 1-19, November.
    3. Martina O. Chukwu & Akebe Luther King Abia & Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa & Lawrence Obi & John Barr Dewar, 2019. "Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of Campylobacter Species Isolated from Paediatric Stool and Water Samples in the Northwest Province, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-22, June.
    4. Thandi Kapwata & Angela Mathee & Wouter Jacobus Le Roux & Caradee Yael Wright, 2018. "Diarrhoeal Disease in Relation to Possible Household Risk Factors in South African Villages," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-12, August.
    5. Mokaba Shirley Malema & Akebe Luther King Abia & Roman Tandlich & Bonga Zuma & Jean-Marc Mwenge Kahinda & Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa, 2018. "Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogenic Escherichia Coli Isolated from Rooftop Rainwater-Harvesting Tanks in the Eastern Cape, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Natasha Potgieter & Simbarashe Karambwe & Lutendo Sylvia Mudau & Tobias Barnard & Afsatou Traore, 2020. "Human Enteric Pathogens in Eight Rivers Used as Rural Household Drinking Water Sources in the Northern Region of South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Abongile Pekana & Ezekiel Green, 2018. "Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Meat Carcasses and Bovine Milk in Abattoirs and Dairy Farms of the Eastern Cape, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-13, October.
    3. Clarissa van der Loo & Catheleen Bartie & Tobias George Barnard & Natasha Potgieter, 2021. "Detection of Free-Living Amoebae and Their Intracellular Bacteria in Borehole Water before and after a Ceramic Pot Filter Point-of-Use Intervention in Rural Communities in South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-20, April.
    4. Pamela Borja-Serrano & Valeria Ochoa-Herrera & Laurence Maurice & Gabriela Morales & Cristian Quilumbaqui & Eduardo Tejera & António Machado, 2020. "Determination of the Microbial and Chemical Loads in Rivers from the Quito Capital Province of Ecuador (Pichincha)—A Preliminary Analysis of Microbial and Chemical Quality of the Main Rivers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-26, July.
    5. Ishmael Festus Jaja & Ezekiel Green & Voster Muchenje, 2018. "Aerobic Mesophilic, Coliform, Escherichia coli , and Staphylococcus aureus Counts of Raw Meat from the Formal and Informal Meat Sectors in South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-13, April.
    6. Ranju Kumari Rathour & Deepak Sakhuja & Arvind Kumar Bhatt & Ravi Kant Bhatia, 2022. "Municipal Wastewater Connection for Water Crisis and Jaundice Outbreaks in Shimla City: Present Findings and Future Solutions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-12, September.
    7. Solanka Ellen Ledwaba & Piet Becker & Afsatou Traore-Hoffman & Natasha Potgieter, 2019. "Bacterial Contamination of Children’s Toys in Rural Day Care Centres and Households in South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-12, August.
    8. Atri Ta & Rafael Ricci-Azevedo & Swathy O. Vasudevan & Skylar S. Wright & Puja Kumari & Morena S. Havira & Meera Surendran Nair & Vijay A. Rathinam & Sivapriya Kailasan Vanaja, 2023. "A bacterial autotransporter impairs innate immune responses by targeting the transcription factor TFE3," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    9. Yasemin Jurczynski & Robson Passos & Luiza C. Campos, 2024. "A Review of the Most Concerning Chemical Contaminants in Drinking Water for Human Health," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-25, August.
    10. John Ogony Odiyo & Rachel Makungo, 2018. "Chemical and Microbial Quality of Groundwater in Siloam Village, Implications to Human Health and Sources of Contamination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-12, February.
    11. Chidozie Declan Iwu & Anthony Ifeanyi Okoh, 2019. "Preharvest Transmission Routes of Fresh Produce Associated Bacterial Pathogens with Outbreak Potentials: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-34, November.
    12. Mokaba Shirley Malema & Akebe Luther King Abia & Roman Tandlich & Bonga Zuma & Jean-Marc Mwenge Kahinda & Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa, 2018. "Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogenic Escherichia Coli Isolated from Rooftop Rainwater-Harvesting Tanks in the Eastern Cape, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:3:p:320-:d:93588. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.