Detection of Shiga toxin-encoding genes in small community water supplies.

Shiga toxin (Stx), one of the most potent bacterial toxins known, can cause bloody diarrhea, hemolytic uremic syndrome, kidney failure and death. The aim of this pilot was to investigate the occurrence of Shiga toxin-encoding genes, stx (stx1 and stx2) from total coliform (TC) and E. coli positive samples from small community water systems.

Recommendations for dealing with waste contaminated with Ebola virus: a Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points approach.

Objective: To assess, within communities experiencing Ebola virus outbreaks, the risks associated with the disposal of human waste and to generate recommendations for mitigating such risks.

Methods: A team with expertise in the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points framework identified waste products from the care of individuals with Ebola virus disease and constructed, tested and confirmed flow diagrams showing the creation of such products. After listing potential hazards associated with each step in each flow diagram, the team conducted a hazard analysis, determined critical control points and made recommendations to mitigate the transmission risks at each control point.

Cryptosporidium in small water systems in Puerto Rico: a pilot study.

A pilot study was undertaken to investigate the occurrence of Cryptosporidium in four very small drinking water systems supplying communities in rural Puerto Rico. Water samples (40 L) were collected and oocysts were concentrated by calcium carbonate flocculation, recovered by immunomagnetic separation and detected by immunofluorescence microscopy. Cryptosporidium oocysts were identified in all four systems.

Impact on diarrhoeal illness of a community educational intervention to improve drinking water quality in rural communities in Puerto Rico.

Background: Waterborne disease is a major risk for small water supplies in rural settings. This study was done to assess the impact of an educational intervention designed to improve water quality and estimate the contribution of water to the incidence of diarrhoeal disease in poor rural communities in Puerto Rico a two-part study was undertaken.

Methods: An educational intervention was delivered to communities relying on community water supplies.

Spatial variability associated with shifting land use: water quality and sediment metals in La Parguera, Southwest Puerto Rico.

Development in southwest Puerto Rico, as in many areas of the Caribbean, is outpacing the ability of upland flora, salt flats, and mangroves to capture sediments and intercept and transform nutrients. A comparative study to examine the effects of development on near-shore water quality in La Parguera, Puerto Rico, was initiated in 1998. Total suspended solids were significantly higher in the vicinity of developing areas compared to reference areas.