Pathogenic parasites and enteroviruses in wastewater: support for a regulation on water reuse.

Brazilian regulations for nonpotable reuse are being established using World Health Organization guidelines, however, they should be developed based on local monitoring studies. This study intended to analyze enteroviruses, protozoa and viable Ascaris sp. eggs in raw (24) and treated (24) effluents from four Wastewater Treatment Plants of São Paulo State, Brazil.

Use of Escherichia coli BOX-PCR fingerprints to identify sources of fecal contamination of water bodies in the State of São Paulo, Brazil.

Repetitive element sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) is one of the commonest methods used to identify sources of fecal contamination of water systems. In this work, BOX-A1R-based repetitive extragenic palindromic-PCR (BOX-PCR) was used to discriminate Escherichia coli strains originating from different animals and water sources, and the suitability of the technique for bacterial source tracking (BST) was evaluated. A total of 214 strains from humans, 150 strains from animals, 55 strains from sewage and 77 strains from water bodies were analyzed by the BOX-PCR technique.

Prevalence of virulence factors in Escherichia coli isolated from healthy animals and water sources in Brazil.

The aim of this work was to verify the presence of seven virulence factors (ST, LT, eae, stx(1), stx(2), INV and EAEC) among Escherichia coli strains isolated from healthy humans, bovines, chickens, sheep, pigs and goats, from two sewage treatment plants and from the Tietê River. We have found a high prevalence of eae, stx(1) and stx(2) in ruminants. The EAEC gene was only found in humans and sewage.

Escherichia coli phylogenetic group determination and its application in the identification of the major animal source of fecal contamination.

Background: Escherichia coli strains are commonly found in the gut microflora of warm-blooded animals. These strains can be assigned to one of the four main phylogenetic groups, A, B1, B2 and D, which can be divided into seven subgroups (A0, A1, B1, B22, B23, D1 and D2), according to the combination of the three genetic markers chuA, yjaA and DNA fragment TspE4.C2.

Identification of Escherichia coli from groups A, B1, B2 and D in drinking water in Brazil.

The presence of Escherichia coli in drinking water is an indication of fecal contamination and can represent a risk of waterborne diseases. Forty-nine E. coli strains isolated from different sources of drinking water (distribution system, well, spring and mineral water) were placed into the phylogenetic groups A (15 strains), B1 (19 strains), B2 (2 strains) and D (13 strains).

Genetic variability and pathogenicity potential of Escherichia coli isolated from recreational water reservoirs.

Contamination of recreational waters and public water supplies by Escherichia coli represents a risk for public health, since some strains can be pathogenic or propagated with other pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, two reservoirs, Billings and Guarapiranga (São Paulo metropolitan area, Brazil), were investigated in order to assess E. coli diversity.

Differentiation of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and A. thiooxidans strains based on 16S-23S rDNA spacer polymorphism analysis.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequence analyses of the PCR-amplified 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer (ITS) were used for differentiating Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans strains from other related acidithiobacilli, including A. ferrooxidans and A. caldus.