Research on the methodology of spatial-temporal distribution of fecal coliform and human adenoviruses in bathing beaches

Abstract:

[Objective] Human adenoviruses (40/41) have been related to acute gastroenteritis, and used as an index of human viral pollution in bathing waters. Traditionally, fecal coliform (FC) was used as an bacterial indicator by using cultivation techniques to estimate risks posed by pathogen in environmental samples. The spatial-temporal detection of waterborne pathogens is of great importance to public health and the prevention of illness. [Methods] In this study, a total of 30 bathing water samples were collected from ten representative bathing beaches of China from May to October, 2008. The quantification of human adenoviruses and FC were analyzed. [Results] The concentrations of adenoviruses ranged from 1.7×106 to 1.1×108 genomic copies/L detected by real-time PCR assay. Occurrence of adenoviruses was determined by real-time PCR and compared to that of common PCR, the positive rate was 30% and 26.7%, respectively. The FC values in seven sampling beaches were higher than 2?000?CFU/L. The temporal distribution trend of adenoviruses presented from August to October were much more than that of other months (p<0.05). Under this experimental conditions, when the sample areas changed in spatial scale, including not only among these ten bathing beaches, but also among different sites of each beach, adenovirus distribution had no obvious difference (p>0.05). Results also showed that spatial and temporal variation of FC were not significant (p>0.05). While there was a correlation between the concentration of FC and the distance from the seashore (P<0.05). The result further confirmed that bacterial and viral indicators were not correlated with each other in the chosen beaches. [Conclusion] In order to prevent a major outbreak of gastroenteritis disease in the swimming season, the monitoring of viral and bacterial indicators as well as sanitation management must be strengthened.