The inactivation of Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella enterica, compared with Escherichia coli, was determined in 100 l chambers of seawater and river water located at an outdoor site. The chambers (paired with dark controls) were seeded with waste stabilization pond effluent and laboratory-cultured pathogens, and exposed to sunlight in summer and winter experiments. All sunlight inactivation (kS) rates, as a function of cumulative global solar radiation (insolation), were far higher than the corresponding dark (kD) rates, with a ranking (and average kS rates for seawater and river water, respectively) of: C. jejuni (3.23; 2.34)>S. enterica (0.51; 0.37)>E. coli (0.34; 0.26). All the T90 (time to 90% inactivation) values were higher in winter than in summer, but there was far greater similarity between the summer and winter S90 (insolation needed for 90% inactivation) values. The rapid inactivation of C. jejuni was attributed to a high susceptibility to photooxidative damage. The results suggest that, in sunlight-exposed waters, E. coli will be a more conservative indicator for C. jejuni than for S. enterica, and C. jejuni transmission as a pathogenic agent is less likely than for S. enterica.
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Research Article|March 01 2007
Sunlight inactivation of Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella enterica, compared with Escherichia coli, in seawater and river water
Lester Sinton
Lester Sinton
1Institute of Environmental Science and Research, P.O. Box 29-181, Christchurch, New Zealand
Tel.: +64-3-351-6019 Fax: +64-3-351-0010; E-mail: lester.sinton@esr.cri.nz
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Carollyn Hall
Carollyn Hall
1Institute of Environmental Science and Research, P.O. Box 29-181, Christchurch, New Zealand
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Robin Braithwaite
Robin Braithwaite
1Institute of Environmental Science and Research, P.O. Box 29-181, Christchurch, New Zealand
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J Water Health (2007) 5 (3): 357-365.
Citation
Lester Sinton, Carollyn Hall, Robin Braithwaite; Sunlight inactivation of Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella enterica, compared with Escherichia coli, in seawater and river water. J Water Health 1 September 2007; 5 (3): 357–365. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2007.031
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