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stypical
staphy o- Coagulase reac-
tion
No. of typi-
cal staphylo- Coagulase re-
action
No. of typical
staphylococci
Coagulase
action
re-
cocci/100 ml cocci/100 ml
14 27 + (11)0 NSb Confluent NDc
29 >300 - NS Confluent ND
48 32 - 21 + (24) 129 + (50)
49 15 - 97 + (50) Confluent ND
9 0 NS 0 NS 15 + (47)
See Table 2.
bNS, No sample available.
c ND, Not determined.
VOL. 39, 1980 STAPHYLOCOCCUS IN DRINKING WATER 741
screen in a home that had no detectable staph- aureus was also occasionally isolated from water
ylococci in the water supply (sample 9). drawn from house lines and the storage tank.
The latter isolates could not have emanated
DISCUSSION from colonized focal points near or around the
Private dfinking water supplies are rarely if faucet screen since this was sterilized with a
ever routinely examined for microbiological torch before sampling. The implication is that S.
quality. As a result, consumption of contami- aureus may be contaminating the well or has
nated rural drinking water has a low chance of colonized the storage tank or house lines. In
being associated with a waterbome illness. In such cases, the faucet screen surfaces could have
addition, many bacteriological and viral agents provided the necessary nutritional conditions to
of gastroenteritis produce self-limiting illness promote regrowth or provided the focal point
with symptoms much like the flu. Such is the for Staphylococcus deposition as contaminated
case with intoxications caused by toxin-produc- water flowed through the screen.
ing strains of S. aureus which induced nausea, In addition to allowing colonization by S. au-
vomiting, and diarrhea. As a result of these facts, reus, faucet aerator screens are also known to be
little definitive evidence is available to estimate the focal point for the colonization of opportun-
the incidence of waterborne outbreaks in rural istic pathogens of other bacterial genera. For
homes served by private sources of water. example, Cross et al. demonstrated that Pseu-
In the present study, over 6% of the rural domonas species could be isolated from water
drinking water samples contained S. aureus. on faucet aerators (8), and others have isolated
There was no correlation between the simulta- Flavobacterium species (10, 12). Frequent clean-
neous presence of the coliform indicator group ing of faucet screens, flushing of storage tanks,
and S. aureus. Therefore, results from coliform and, in cases of severe contamination, intermit-
analyses alone would not have been an entirely tent chlorination of rural water supplies would
satisfactory measure of rural dfinking water help eliminate various contaminants from the
quality. The extended survival ability of staph- water and therefore lower the possibility of wa-
ylococci may explain their presence when coli- terborne illness.
forms cannot be detected (9). A better correla- It would certainly be relevant to determine
tion existed between densities of total plate the incidence of staphylococci in other rural
counts and S. aureus. Sixty-three percent of the water supplies where groundwater quality and
samples containing S. aureus had plate counts climatic conditions differ from those in the pres-
exceeding 300/ml whereas only 19% not contain- ent study area.
ing S. aureus had similar counts.
There are many reasons for potential concern ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
when S. aureus is present in domestic drinking We appreciate the assistance of M. J. Woodburn and T. N.
water supplies. One report has already described Morita, Department of Food and Nutrition, Oregon State
for their help in identifying staphylococcal enter-
food poisoning resulting from contaminated wa- University,
otoxins. Pam Lytz performed the coliform analyses on some
ter used to cool hard-boiled eggs (7). To induce of the samples.
food intoxication, only a small amount of enter- This study was supported by a grant from the Water
otoxin need be produced (2, 3, 5, 17). Bergdoll Resources Research Institute at Oregon State University.
(4) has indicated that 1 ug or less of enterotoxin LITERATURE CITED
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methods for the examination of water and waste water,
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181-189.
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