Abstract
Simple SummaryIn many households in rural communities, water needed for drinking and cooking is fetched from rivers, fountains, or boreholes shared by the community. The water is then stored in various storage containers for several days without treatment and exposed to several conditions that could potentially contaminate the water and cause diseases. If the storage containers are not regularly and properly cleaned, biofilms can form inside the containers. Several microorganisms can be found inside the biofilm that can potentially cause diseases in humans. One such group of organisms is called free-living amoebae, which graze on the bacteria found inside the biofilm. Several of these potentially harmful bacteria have adapted and can survive inside these free-living amoebae and potentially cause diseases when ingested by humans.This study investigated the co-existence of potential human pathogenic bacteria and free-living amoebae in samples collected from stored water in rural households in South Africa using borehole water as a primary water source. Over a period of 5 months, a total of 398 stored water and 392 biofilm samples were collected and assessed. Free-living amoebae were identified microscopically in 92.0% of the water samples and 89.8% of the biofilm samples. A further molecular identification using 18S rRNA sequencing identified Vermamoeba vermiformis, Entamoeba spp., Stenamoeba spp., Flamella spp., and Acanthamoeba spp. including Acanthamoeba genotype T4, which is known to be potentially harmful to humans. Targeted potential pathogenic bacteria were isolated from the water samples using standard culture methods and identified using 16S rRNA sequencing. Mycobacterium spp., Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacter spp., and other emerging opportunistic pathogens such as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia were identified. The results showed the importance of further studies to assess the health risk of free-living amoebae and potential human pathogenic bacteria to people living in rural communities who have no other option than to store water in their homes due to water shortages.
Highlights
Statistics South Africa [1] reported that only 88.2% of households have access to an improved drinking water source in South Africa
A total of 97% (398/410) household stored water samples and 96% (392/410) biofilm swabs were collected in this study over the 5 month study period because a few household members were absent on the collection day and samples in a specific month could not be collected
The results from this study showed the prevalence and co-existence of free-living amoebae (FLA) and potential harmful bacteria which could be a health concern, that were found in householdstored water and containers, highlighting the need for improved hygiene education and intervention programmes on water collection and treatment practices at a household level
Summary
Statistics South Africa [1] reported that only 88.2% of households have access to an improved drinking water source in South Africa. In 2002, Momba and Kaleni [22] demonstrated the direct relationship between the material of the storage container, the quality of the intake water, and the degree of bacterial regrowth. They found that total coliforms grew at a higher rate on polyethylene than on galvanised steel; steel is vastly more expensive than plastic and most people living in rural communities can only afford plastic storage vessels [22], of which most are old used food or paint containers. Other studies in South Africa have investigated the composition, biomass, adhesion mechanisms, and resistance profiles of biofilms in water storage containers but the focus has been on total coliforms, E. coli, Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens [22], somatic coliphages [3], heterotrophic bacteria [17,23] and faecal coliforms [23,24]
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