Assessing the Presence of Antibiotic-Resistant Enterococcus in Reclaimed Water Used for Spray Irrigation

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Files

Publication or External Link

Date

2013

Citation

DRUM DOI

Abstract

Reclaiming wastewater is increasing in the US to combat dwindling freshwater supplies. This water potentially contains pathogenic bacteria; therefore, we evaluated the occurrence, concentration, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Enterococcus spp.--an important opportunistic pathogen that remains a leading cause of nosocomial infections--in reclaimed water used for spray irrigation (SI). A total of 48 wastewater effluent and SI samples were collected in 2009 and 2010 from the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the US. Enterococci were isolated using membrane filtration, confirmed using biochemical tests and PCR, and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using the Sensititre® dilution system. We detected total enterococci and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in 68% (27/40) and 8% (3/40), respectively, of all SI samples. VRE and vancomycin-intermediate enterococci (VIE) represented 2% (1/41) and 10% (4/41), respectively, of the total enterococci recovered from all SI sites. Our findings show that SI workers may be exposed to enterococci during spray irrigation activities.

Notes

Rights