Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Occurrence and persistence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in water

  • View Paper
  • Published:
Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Escherichia coli O157:H7 has been associated with water related outbreaks. It has been isolated from surface and ground waters. It is capable of survival in water for days to weeks

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Armstrong GL, Hollingsworth J, Morris JG Jr (1996) Emerging foodborne pathogens: Escherichia coli O157:H7 as a model of entry of a new pathogen into the food supply of the developed world. Epidemiol Rev 18:29–51

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Artz RR, Killham K (2002) Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in private drinking water wells: influences of protozoan grazing and elevated copper concentrations. FEMS Microbiol Lett 216:117–122

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Artz RR, Townend J, Brown K, Towers W, Killham K (2005) Soil macropores and compaction control the leaching potential of Escherichia coli O157:H7. Environ Microbiol 7:241–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avery LM, Hill P, Killham K, Jones D (2004) Escherichia coli O157 survival following the surface and sub-surface application of human pathogen contaminated organic waste to soil. Soil Biol Biochem 36:2101–2103

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Avery LM, Killham K, Jones DL (2005) Survival of E. coli O157:H7in organic wastes destined for land application. J Appl Microbiol 98:814–822

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blanch AR, Garcia-Aljaro C, Muniesa M, Jofre J (2003) Detection, enumeration and isolation of strains carrying the stx2 gene from urban sewage. Water Sci Technol 47:109–116

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton DJ, Byrne CM, Sheridan JJ, McDowell DA, Blair IS (1999) The survival characteristics of a non-toxigenic strain of Escherichia coli O157:H7. J Appl Microbiol 86:407–411

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bruce MG, Curtis MB, Payne MM, Gautom RK, Thompson EC, Bennett AL, Kobayashi JM (2003) Lake-associated outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Clark County, Washington, August 1999. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 157:1016–1021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan RL, Edelson SG (1999) pH-dependent stationary-phase acid resistance response of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in the presence of various acidulants. J Food Protect 62:211–218

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burckhardt F, Heissenhuber A, Morlock G, Busch U, Schindler P, Fruth A, Ammon A, Wildner M (2005) Risk factors for abundance of shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli in sewage water. Gesundheitswesen 67:858–861

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • CDC Centers for Disease Control, Prevention (2006) On going multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 infections associated with consumption of fresh spinach-United States, September 2006. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 55:1045–1046

    Google Scholar 

  • Chalmers RM, Aird H, Bolton FJ (2000) Waterborne Escherichia coli O157. Symp Ser Soc Appl Microbiol 29:124S–132S

    Google Scholar 

  • Curriero FC, Patz JA, Rose JB, Lele S (2001) The association between extreme precipitation and waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States, 1948–1994. Am J Public Health 91:1194–1199

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Czajkowska D, Witkowska-Gwiazdowska A, Sikorska I, Boszczyk-Maleszak H, Horoch M (2005) Survival of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 in water and in bottom-shore sediments. Pol J Environ Stud 14:423–430

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Degnan AJ, Standridge J (2006) Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 and others. In: Waterborne pathogens, 2nd edn. American Water Works Association, Denver, USA, pp 103–106

  • Doyle MP (1991) Escherichia coli O157:H7 and its significance in foods. Int J Food Microbiol 12:289–301

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elder RO, Keen JE, Siragusa GR, Barkocy-Gallagher GA, Koohmaraie M, Lagreid WW (2000) Correlation of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 prevalence in feces, hides, and carcasses of beef cattle during processing. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97:2999–3003

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman MS, Roels T, Koehler J, Bibb WF, Blake P (1999) Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with an improperly chlorinated swimming pool. Clin Infect Dis 29:298–303

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gagliardi JV, Karns JS (2000) Leaching of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in diverse soils under various agricultural management practices. Appl Environ Microbiol 66:877–883

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gagliardi JV, Karn JS (2002) Persistence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in soil and on plant roots. Environ Microbiol 4:89–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gannon VP, Graham TA, Read S, Ziebell K, Muckie A, Mori J, Thomas J, Selinger B, Townshed I, Bryne J (2004) Bacterial pathogens in rural water supplies in southern Alberta, Canada. J Toxicol Environ Health A 67:1643–1653

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Aljaro C, Bonjoch X, Blanch AR (2005) Combined use of an immunomagnetic separation method and immunoblotting for the enumeration and isolation of Escherichia coli O157 in wastewaters. J Appl Microbiol 98:589–597

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Geldreich EE, Fox KR, Goodrich JA, Rice EW, Clark RM, Swerdlow DL (1992) Searching for a water supply connection in the Cabool, Missouri disease outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7. Water Res 26:1127–1137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerba CP, Rose JB, Haas CN (1996) Sensitive populations: who is at the greatest risk? Intl J Food Microbiol 30:113–123

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haas CN, Thayyar-Madabusi A., Rose JB, Gerba CP (2000) Development of a dose-response relationship for Escherichia coli O157:H7. Int J Food Microbiol 56:153–159

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter P (2003) Drinking water and diarrheal disease due to Escherichia coli. J Water Health 1:65–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchison ML, Walters LD, Moore A, Crookes M, Avery SM (2004) Effect of length of time before incorporation on survival of pathogenic bacteria present in livestock wastes applied to agricultural soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:5111–5118

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ibekwe AM, Watt PM, Shouse PJ, Grieve CM (2004) Fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in irrigation water on soils and plants as validated by culture method and real-time PCR. Can J Microbiol 50:1007–1014

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ibekwe AM, Grieve CM, Yang CH (2007) Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in soil and on lettuce after soil fumigation. Can J Microbiol 53:623–635

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Islam M, Doyle MP, Phatak SC, Millner P, Jiang X (2004) Persistence of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in soil and on leaf lettuce and parsley grown in fields treated with contaminated manure composts or irrigation water. J Food Protect 67:1365–1370

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang X, Morgan J, Doyle MP (2002) Fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in manure-amended soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 68:2605–2609

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keene WE, McAnulty JM, Hoesly FC, Williams LP, Hedberg K, Oxman GL, Barrett TJ, Pfaller MA, Fleming DW (1994) A swimming-associated outbreak of hemorrhagic colitis caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shigella sonnei. N Engl J Med 331:579–584

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kudva IT, Blanch K, Hovde CJ (1998) Analysis of Escherichia coli O157:H7 survival in ovine or bovine manure and manure slurry. Appl Environ Microbiol 64:3166–3174

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kurokawa K, Tani K, Ogawa M, Nasu M (1999) Abundance of bacteria carrying sltil gene in natural river water. Lett Appl Microbiol 28:405–410

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lahti E, Ruoho O, Rantala L, Hanninen ML, Honkanen-Buzalski T (2003) Longitudinal study of Escherichia coli O157 in a cattle finishing unit. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:554–561

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • LeJeune JT, Besser TE, Rice DH, Berg JL, Stilborn RP, Hancock DD (2004) Longitudinal study of fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in feedlot cattle: predominance and persistence of specific clonal types despite massive cattle population turnover. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:377–384

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mani R, Udgaonkar U, Pawar S (2003) Study of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) diarrhoea in children. Indian J Pathol Microbiol 46:118–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews L, McKendrick IJ, Ternent H, Hunn GJ, Synge B, Woolhouse ME (2006) Super-shedding cattle and the transmission dynamics of Escherichia coli O157. Epidemiol Infect 134:131–142

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McGee P, Bolton DJ, Sheridan JJ, Earley B, Kelly G, Leonard N (2002) Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in farm water: its role as a vector in the transmission of the organism within herds. J Appl Microbiol 93:706–713

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mead P, Griffin PM (1998) Escherichia coli O157:H7. Lancet 352:1207–1212

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mitscherlich E, Marth EH (1984) Microbial survival in the environment. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly (2003) Surveillance data from swimming pool inspections-selected states and countries, United States, May–September 2002. MMWR 52:513–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Muniesa M, Jofre J, Garcia-Aljaro C, Blanch AR (2006) Occurrence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in the environment. Environ Sci Technol 40:7141–7149

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mukherjee A, Cho S, Scheftel J, Jawahir S, Smith K, Diez-Gonzalez F (2006) Soil survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 acquired by a child from garden soil recently fertilized with cattle manure. J Appl Microbiol 101:429–436

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson FA, Groves SJ, Chambers BJ (2005) Pathogen survival during livestock manure storage and following land application. Bioresource Technol 96:135–143

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen SJ, Miller G, Breuer T, Kennedy M, Higgins C, Walford J, McKee G, Fox K, Bibb W, Mead P (2002) A waterborne outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections and hemolytic uremic syndrome: implications for rural water systems. Emerg Infect Dis 8:370–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omisakin F, MacRae M, Orden ID, Strachan NJ (2003) Concentration and prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 in cattle at slaughter. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:2444–2447

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramteke PW, Tewari S (2006) Serogroups of Escherichia coli from drinking water. Environ Monit Assess. Epub ahead of print

  • Rangel JM, Sparling PH, Crowe C, Griffin PM, Swerdlow DL (2005) Epidemiology of Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreaks, United States, 1982–2002. Emerg Infect Dis 11:603–609

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravva SV, Sarreal CZ, Duffy B, Stanker LH (2006) Survival of Escherichia coli in wastewater from dairy lagoons. J Appl Microbiol 101:891–902

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Regli S, Rose JB, Hass CN, Gerba CP (1991) Modeling the risk from Giardia and viruses in drinking water. J Am Water Works Assoc 83:76–84

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie JM, Campbell GR, Shepherd J, Beaton Y, Jones D, Killham K, Artz RRE (2003) A stable bioluminescent construct of Escherichia coli O157:H7 for hazard assessments of long-term survival in the environment. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:3359–3367

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Samadpour M, Stewart J, Steingart K, Addy C, Louderback J, McGinn M, Ellington J, Newman T (2002) Laboratory investigation of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with swimming in Battle Ground Lake, Vancouver, Washington. J Environ Health 64:16–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson MW, Sargeant JM, Nagaraja TG, Zurek L, Alam MJ (2006) Longitudinal emergence and distribution of Escherichia coli O157 genotypes in a beef feedlot. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:7614–7619

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sargeant JM, Sanderson MW, Smith RA, Griffin DD (2003) Escherichia coli O157 in feeder-cattle states in the USA. Prev Vet Med 61:127–135

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schets FM, During M, Italiaander R, Heijnen L, Rutjes SA, van der Zwaluw WK, de Roda Husman AM (2005) Escherichia coli O157:H7 in drinking water from private water supplies in the Netherlands. Water Res 39:4485–4493

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scott LP, McGee P, Sheridan JJ, Earley B, Leonard N (2006) A comparison of the survival in feces and water of Escherichia coli O157:H7 grown under laboratory conditions or obtained from cattle feces. J Food Protect 69:6–11

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas KM, Charron DF, Waltner-Toews D, Schuster C, Maarouf, Holt JD (2006) A role of high impact weather events in waterborne disease outbreaks in Canada, 1975–2001. Int J Environ Health Res 16:167–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trevena WT, Willshaw GA, Cheasty T, Doningue G, Wray C (1999) Transmission of Vero cytotoxin producing Escherichia coli O157 infection from farm animals to humans in Cornwall and West Devon. Comm Dis Public Health 2:263–268

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams AP, Avery LM, Killham K, Jones DL (2007) Persistence, dissipation, and activity of Escherichia coli O157:H7 within sand and seawater environments. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 60:24–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang G, Doyle MP (1998) Survival of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in water. J Food Protect 61:662–667

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zaleski KJ, Josephen KL, Gerba CP, Pepper IL (2005) Survival, growth, and regrowth of enteric indicator and pathogenic bacteria in biosolids, compost, soil and land applied biosolids. J Residuals Sci Technol 2:49–63

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA

    Nena Nwachuku & Charles P. Gerba

  2. Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Nena Nwachuku & Charles P. Gerba

Authors
  1. Nena Nwachuku
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Charles P. Gerba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles P. Gerba.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nwachuku, N., Gerba, C.P. Occurrence and persistence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in water. Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol 7, 267–273 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-008-9132-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-008-9132-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation