Many microorganisms previously unrecognized as food-borne or harmful are emerging
as human pathogens transmitted by food and water. Arcobacter, the newly reclassified
Campylobacter species, has been shown recently like an emerging pathogen (Phillips,
2001) of farm animals and human as well as possible routes of transmission via water
and food. The objective of this work was to determine whether Arcobacter butzleri can
survive chlorine water treatment and to study the survival strategies of this organism in
chlorinated and non-chlorinated drinking water. Two survival experiments were
conducted in flasks containing 100 ml water microcosms (chlorinated and non-
chlorinated) filtered through a 0.2 um pore size and A. butzleri NCTC 12481 cells. The
flasks were stored at 12C, in the dark. Samples were removed aseptically immediately
after inoculation (To) and then periodically during the following 2 days (chlorinated
drinking water) and 35 days (non-chlorinated drinking water) of inoculation. The
experiments were performed by duplicate. The membrane integrity (Baclight viability
kit), 16S rRNA (FISH technique and EUB 338 probe), DNA (PCR and 23S rRNA PCR-
RFLPs) and culturability (TS agar plates without antibiotics) changes of A. butzleri cells
were analyzed. The data showed that culturability of A. butzleri cells was lost at 5 min
in chlorinated drinking water with 0.96 mg/l of free chlorine. At 24 h the cells showed
membrane damage. After 24 h the amplicon specific for the 23S rRNA gene for A.
butzleri (2500 bp) was detected, but the intensity of bands decreased at this time. The
levels of 16S rRNA were constant during the chlorine treatment, so killing of bacteria
with chlorine probably does not involve ribosome degradation. The organism was able
to survive in non-chlorinated drinking water for at least 2 weeks and can remain viable
for an extended period of time. A. butzleri was found to be sensitive to chlorine
inactivation. Disinfection practices normally used in drinking water treatment would be
adequate for controlling this organism, but continuous chlorination is essential when
disinfection represents the only barrier to the spread of infectious agents via a
contaminated water source, as recommended Rice et al. (1999).
Includes 20 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 320 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
| Published : | 09/22/2002 |
