title: Influence of hydrologic and anthropogenic factors on the abundance variability of enteropathogens in the Ganges estuary, a cholera endemic region.
abstract: This study deals with the influence of water physico-chemical properties, tides, rainfall and fecal pollution on the abundance of enteropathogens in a main distributary of the Ganges, in the endemic cholera belt of West Bengal. Between January and June 2011, water and sediments were sampled from two sites of the Hooghly River by Kolkata and Diamond Harbour. Counts of cultivable Vibrio (CVC, from~10(2) to~10(5)CFU/L) and total bacteria (TBC, from~10(5) to~10(9)CFU/L) increased with water temperature (17°C to 37°C). A combination of variations in tidal height, salinity and turbidity had a distinct influence on CVC, TBC and coliform counts. At Diamond Harbour, a salinity increase from 0.6 to 7.9 was accompanied by a 1000-fold amplification of initial CVC~10(2)CFU/L, whereas higher prevalence of coliforms in Kolkata was related to greater disposal of untreated sewage into the river. Turbidity-dependent variation of CVC was noteworthy, particularly at Diamond Harbour, where CVC in intertidal surface sediments showed an analogous trend as in surface waters, suggesting bentho-pelagic coupling of Vibrio dynamics. Besides the influence of salinity variation with tidal cycles, sediment re-suspension from tidal flats can play a role on Vibrio abundance in aquatic ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Cholera Enteric Diseases (ICMR), 700010 Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Prasenjit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Batabyal
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Center for Marine Tropical Ecology (ZMT), 28359 Bremen, Germany. Electronic address: marc.einsporn@zmt-bremen.de.
authors.forename: Marc H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Einsporn
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Cholera Enteric Diseases (ICMR), 700010 Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Subham
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mookerjee
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Cholera Enteric Diseases (ICMR), 700010 Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Anup
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palit
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh; Graduate School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan.
authors.forename: Sucharit B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Neogi
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Cholera Enteric Diseases (ICMR), 700010 Kolkata, India; Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon-122016, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Gopinath B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Center for Marine Tropical Ecology (ZMT), 28359 Bremen, Germany; Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
authors.forename: Rubén J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Lara
mesh_terms: D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D063366:Estuaries; D062070:Hydrology; D007194:India; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D054712:Salinity; D012623:Seawater; D012722:Sewage; D013696:Temperature; D014733:Vibrio / Q000254:growth & development*; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage
keywords: Biogeochemistry; Ganges estuary; Hydrology; Kolkata; Physico-chemistry; Vibrio