An Ecological Study of the Coliform Bacteria

Public toilets with insufficient ventilation present high cross infection risk

Due to insufficient ventilation, public toilets present high risks for cross-infection. The study investigated 61 public toilets to identify the causes and locations of biological contaminated sources. Airborne and surface bacterial contamination, carbon dioxide concentration, and surface ammonia levels were measured. Both bacterial contamination and CO₂ are higher in non-ventilated toilets compared to their ventilated counterparts. Bacteria colony forming units (CFUs) in a public toilet with poor ventilation can reach 5 times the number of CFUs outside of the toilet. This suggests that non-ventilated public toilets present a higher risk of cross-infection. Areas near all kinds of sanitary equipment (toilet bowls, squat toilets and urinals) were highly contaminated, indicating that enhanced cleaning regimes are necessary. Further, lidless trash bins present a higher risk as contaminated matter within the trash bins is not inhibited from being released into the environment. Ventilation and cleaning need to be improved to mitigate the risk of cross-infection in public toilets.

333. The coliform flora of milk and dairy products

1. The sources of error and general significance of the presumptive coliform test have been studied, with special reference to manufactured dairy products.

2. Eosine methylene blue agar has been found reasonably satisfactory for isolation of cultures but unsatisfactory as a direct plating medium.

3. A wide survey of the coliform flora of raw milk and milk products has been made over a period of 11 years. The data were collected from 24,952 samples and include the incidence of presumptive positive tests at each stage of manufacturing processes, the occurrence of ‘false-positive’ tests, the detailed distribution of coliform types in individual dairy products, and some preliminary observations on ‘heat-resistant’ coliform strains.

4. Material examined included raw milk, pasteurized milk, ice cream, milk powder, condensed milk, pasteurized cream, clotted cream, butter, soft cheese, Cheddar cheese, processed cheese, swabs of dairy plant, churn rinses, and the atmosphere of dairy factories.

5. Detailed confirmatory tests were performed on 2490 presumptive positives, from which 2508 coliform cultures were isolated and classified.

6. A general ecological survey of the frequency of individual coliform types in dairying operations as a whole has been attempted.

7. Particular factors which may affect the distribution of coliform types in specific products or situations have been shown to include heat resistance, resistance to drying, chemical composition of the substrate, the effect of storage, and conditions prevailing on plant surfaces. It is suggested that the coliform flora may be partly the result of adaptation to conditions associated with each individual product.

8. The value of the presumptive coliform test has been discussed in respect of public health requirements, as a plant-control method, and in relation to economic aspects. The test is believed to be of great utility in the plant-control laboratory but of little value for public health purposes.

Multiple antibiotic resistance indexing of Escherichia coli to identify high-risk sources of fecal contamination of foods

Escherichia coli isolates taken from environments considered to have low and high enteric disease potential for humans were screened against 12 antibiotics to determine the prevalence of multiple antibiotic resistance among the isolates of these environments. It was determined that multiple-antibiotic-resistant E. coli organisms exist in large numbers within the major reservoirs of enteric diseases for humans while existing in comparatively low numbers elsewhere. These differences provide a method for distinguishing high-risk contamination of foods by indexing the frequency with which multiple-antibiotic-resistant E. coli organisms occur among isolates taken from a sample.

The sanitary significance of coliform bacilli in soil

Coliforms were readily obtained from many soils. In samples taken from sites exposed to animal contaminationBact. colitype I occurred predominantly. A large number of samples taken from grassy banks, only remotely exposed to contamination, were found to contain intermediates. It was found that the greater the probable degree of contamination of the soil the higher was the proportion ofBact. colitype I, and that the less the probable degree of contamination the higher was the proportion of intermediates. It is difficult to explain this merely on the basis of the prolonged survival of intermediates in soil, and it would appear obvious that the source of these intermediates lay elsewhere than in animal faeces. The numbers in which they were found in soil, however, were not of the order expected of bacteria living in their natural environment, and consequently it was equally difficult to conclude that these intermediates were actively established in soil.