Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
TAble 6.2
Waterborne Disease-Causing Organisms
Microorganism
Disease
Bacteria
Salmonella typhi
Typhoid fever
Salmonella
sp.
Salmonellosis
Shigella
sp.
Shigellosis
Campylobacter jejuni
Campylobacter enteritis
Yersinia entercolitice
Yersiniosis
Escherichia coli
Gastroenteritis
Intestinal parasites
Entamoeba histolytica
Amoebic dysentery
Giardia lamblia
Giardiasis
Cryptosporidium
Cryptosporidiosis
Viruses
Norovirus (Norwalk agent)
Gastroenteritis
Rotavirus
Diarrhea
Enterovirus
Polio
Aseptic meningitis
Herpangina
Hepatitis A
Infectious hepatitis
Adenoviruses
Respiratory disease
Conjunctivitis
DID YoU KNoW?
Common waterborne organisms of concern to drinking water
practitioners are
bacteria
that cause botulism, typhoid, dysentery,
cholera, and Legionnaires' disease;
viruses
that cause hepatitis and
polio; and
protozoa
that cause giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis. The
pathogen coliform
Escherichia coli
0157:H7 (
E. coli
for short) causes
both waterborne and foodborne disease outbreaks.
the term
waterborne
) of the pathogen to the place where an individual inad-
vertently consumes it, and thus the outbreak of disease begins (Koren, 1991).
The facts are summed up simply enough by the following (Spellman, 1997,
pp. 4-5):
Waterborne pathogens are not at home in water. Nothing could be fur-
ther from the truth. A water-filled environment is not one in which
pathogenic organisms would choose to live—that is, if it had such a
choice. The point is that microorganisms do not normally grow, repro-
duce, and thrive in watery surroundings. Pathogenic microorganisms
temporarily residing in water are simply biding their time, going with
