Specificity for field enumeration of Escherichia coli in tropical surface waters.
In remote rural areas in developing countries, bacteriological monitoring often depends on the use of commercial field media. This paper evaluates a commercial field medium used for the enumeration of Escherichia coli in different surface waters under primitive field conditions in rural Pakistan. In order to verify the field kit, 117 presumptive E. coli isolates have been tested, finding a specificity of only 40%. By excluding some strains based on colony colours, the calculated specificity could be increased to 65%. Thus, it is suggested that prior to use in a tropical environment, the specificity of any commercial medium used should be tested with representative tropical isolates, in order to increase the specificity.
Jensen
P K
PK
Department of Veterinary Microbiology, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University. Stigbøjlen 4, 1870 Frederiksberg, Denmark. pkj@kvl.dk
Aalbaek
B
B
Aslam
R
R
Dalsgaard
A
A
D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods; D003906:Developing Countries; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005966:Glucuronidase / Q000032:analysis; D010154:Pakistan; D012424:Rural Population; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014871:Water Microbiology
D005966:Glucuronidase