Microfluidic quantification of multiple enteric and opportunistic bacterial pathogens in roof-harvested rainwater tank samples

Warish Ahmed, Qian Zhang, Satoshi Ishii, Kerry Hamilton, Charles Haas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Potable and non-potable uses of roof-harvested rainwater (RHRW) are increasing due to water shortages. To protect human health risks, it is important to identify and quantify disease-causing pathogens in RHRW so that appropriate treatment options can be implemented. We used a microfluidic quantitative PCR (MFQPCR) system for the quantitative detection of a wide array of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and pathogens in RHRW tank samples along with culturable FIB and conventional qPCR analysis of selected pathogens. Among the nine pathogenic bacteria and their associated genes tested with the MFQPCR, 4.86 and 2.77% samples were positive for Legionella pneumophila and Shigella spp., respectively. The remaining seven pathogens were absent. MFQPCR and conventional qPCR results showed good agreement. Therefore, direct pathogen quantification by MFQPCR systems may be advantageous for circumstances where a thorough microbial analysis is required to assess the public health risks from multiple pathogens that occur simultaneously in the target water source.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number105
JournalEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment
Volume190
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Crown.

Keywords

  • Fecal indicator bacteria
  • Microfluidic qPCR
  • Opportunistic pathogens
  • Public health
  • Rainwater

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