K. Jones

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of urban waste, sewage and other human centred activities on the microbiological quality of the river Subin, which flows through the metropolis of Kumasi, Ghana, and serves as drinking water for communities downstream. Three sites, Racecourse, Asafo and Asago, on the Subin were monitored over a year for total coliforms, faecal coliforms, enterococci and biochemical oxygen demand. Bacterial indicator numbers (geometric mean 100 ml⁻¹) varied from 1.61 × 10⁹ to 4.06 × 10¹³ for total coliforms, 9.75 × 10⁸ to 8.98 × 10¹² for faecal coliforms and 1.01 × 10² to 6.57 × 10⁶ for enterococci. There was a consistent increase in bacterial loading as the river flows from the source (Racecourse) through Kumasi. Bacterial numbers were significantly (p≤0.05) higher during the rainy season compared with the dry (harmattan) season. The biochemical oxygen demand ranged from 8 mg l⁻¹ at the source of the river to 419 mg l⁻¹ at Asago; none of the sites achieved internationally accepted standards for water quality. The River Subin becomes grossly polluted as it flows through Kumasi and at Asago, a rural community downstream of Kumasi that abstracts water from the river for drinking, this probably contributes to the observed high levels of diarrhoeal disease.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the microbiological quality of Ghanaian bottled and plastic‐bagged drinking water sold on the streets of Metropolitan Kumasi, Ghana. Methods and Results: Eigh...

K. OBIRI‐DANSO, N. PAUL AND K. JONES. 2001. Aims: To determine whether diurnal and seasonal variations in campylobacters in surface waters result from the effects of temperature and u.v. radiation,...

K. OBIRI‐DANSO and K. JONES.1999.Two freshwater bathing sites, the Crook O’Lune and the University Boathouse, on the River Lune in the north‐west of England, were monitored over a 2 year period for t...

Until recently, sewage from Morecambe was macerated, but otherwise untreated, and discharged at high water via a short outfall pipe into Morecambe Bay adjacent to a recognized bathing water. In March...

The rates at which sheep on different types of pasture shed campylobacters in their faeces were measured over 12 months. Overall, shedding of campylobacters at pasture was between a third and a half ...

Morecambe's three EU designated bathing beaches frequently fail the EU directives, even after a state of the art sewage treatment plant has become operational. We have been using conventional microbiology to look at the seasonality and distribution of indicator and pathogenic bacteria in Morcambe Bay and using molecular methods (polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)) to investigate the pathways by which pathogens reach the bathing waters. We will present data for Morecambe Bay which show that: 1 Failures and passes appear to be associated with the prevailing climatic conditions. 2 Indicator bacteria may not always be derived from sewage effluents. 3 Not all pathogens are distributed in the same way as indicator bacteria. 4 Pathogens such as Campylobacter are as likely to come from birds as from sewage.

A survey of the isolation rate and population size of thermophilic campylobacters in lambs at slaughter was carried out to determine the seasonal variation of thermophilic campylobacters in ovine hosts. Isolation rates determined by enrichment methods were always higher than those using direct plating onto selective agar and showed that Campylobacter could be isolated from 91·7% (n = 360) of samples from the small intestine of the lambs. Enumerations (MPN), done monthly over a 2-year period, averaged 4·00 log 10 (n = 1080, S.D. 0·16) campylobacters g⁻¹ fresh weight (fw) intestinal contents with some samples giving values higher than 7 log MPN gfw⁻¹. These results show that the prevalence of thermophilic campylobacters in sheep intended for slaughter is much higher than previously reported. Statistical analyses showed that there was a significant seasonal periodicity in the Campylobacter populations in the small intestines of lambs at slaughter (P = 0·004) but that there was no statistical relationship with environmental parameters such as minimum and maximum temperature, rainfall or hours of sunshine. In an analysis along the length of the intestinal tract of lambs, campylobacters were isolated from 80% of small intestine and 30% of rumen samples, but not from the true stomach, large intestine or caecal samples. A survey of sheep grazing on salt marsh, fell (upland) and farm pasture showed that the isolation rate of thermophilic campylobacters in fresh faeces was substantially lower (29·3% (n = 420)) than that from the small intestine of lambs at slaughter. No significant difference (>0·05) was found between the isolation rate of campylobacters from faeces sampled in late spring/early summer and autumn, nor between the different types of grazing.