Possible transmission of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis through potable water: lessons from an urban cluster of Crohn's disease

Ellen S Pierce

doi:10.1186/1757-4749-1-17

Abstract

A "cluster" of patients refers to the geographic proximity of unrelated patients with the same disease and suggests a common environmental cause for that disease. Clusters of patients with Crohn's disease have been linked to the presence of an infectious microorganism in unpasteurized milk and cheese, untreated water supplied by wells or springs, animal manure used as fertilizer for family vegetable gardens, and bodies of water contaminated by agricultural runoff.Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is the suspected cause of Crohn's disease. MAP causes a disease in dairy cows and other animals that is similar to Crohn's disease, called Johne's ('Yo-knees') disease or paratuberculosis. Dairy cows with Johne's disease secrete MAP into their milk and excrete MAP into their feces. MAP is present in untreated water such as well water, in bodies of water contaminated by agricultural runoff, and in unpasteurized milk and cheese.The "treatment" of "tap" water to make it "drinkable" or "potable" by the processes of sedimentation, filtration and chlorination has little to no effect on MAP. MAP is so resistant to chlorine disinfection that such disinfection actually selects for its growth. Other subspecies of Mycobacterium avium grow in biofilms present on tap water pipes. Despite the documented presence of MAP in tap water and its probable growth on tap water pipes, clusters of Crohn's disease have not previously been described in relationship to tap water pipes supplying patients' homes.This report describes three unrelated individuals who lived on the same block along a street in a midwestern American city and developed Crohn's disease within four years of each other in the 1960's. A common tap water pipe supplied their homes.This is the first reported cluster of Crohn's disease possibly linked to fully treated drinking water, and is consistent with previously reported clusters of Crohn's disease linked to an infectious microorganism in water.

Highlights

This report describes three unrelated individuals who lived on the same block along a street in a midwestern American city and developed Crohn's disease within four years of each other in the 1960's
Gut Pathogens 2009, 1:17 http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/1/1/17 called clusters only when the individuals with Crohn's disease are unrelated, studies of families with Crohn's disease conclude that the disease is caused by an environmental factor [8,9,10,11] and an infectious one [9,11]. These previously reported clusters of Crohn's disease have been linked to the consumption of unpasteurized milk [9], the consumption of unpasteurized cheese [10], drinking untreated water supplied by wells [1,10] or springs [3,9], the use of animal manure as fertilizer for family vegetable gardens [10], and swimming in [2] or inhaling aerosolized droplets from [12] bodies of water contaminated by agricultural runoff
Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) causes a disease in dairy cows and other animals that is similar to Crohn's disease, called Johne's ('Yo-knees') disease or paratuberculosis [15]

Summary

Introduction

Despite the documented presence of MAP in tap water and its probable growth on tap water pipes, clusters of Crohn's disease have not previously been described in relationship to tap water pipes supplying patients' homes. This report describes three unrelated individuals who lived on the same block along a street in a midwestern American city and developed Crohn's disease within four years of each other in the 1960's.

Results

Conclusion