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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2005, p. 2875-2879, Vol. 71, No. 6
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.6.2875-2879.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Erosion and Subsequent Transport State of Escherichia coli from Cowpats

Richard William Muirhead,1,2* Robert Peter Collins,3 and Philip James Bremer1

Department of Food Science, Otago University, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand,1 AgResearch, Invermay Agricultural Centre, Puddle Alley, Private Bag 50034, Mosgiel, New Zealand,2 National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd. (NIWA), P.O. Box 11-115, Hamilton, New Zealand3

Received 14 October 2004/ Accepted 20 December 2004

Processes by which fecal bacteria enter overland flow and their transportation state to surface waters are poorly understood, making the effectiveness of measures designed to intercept this pathway, such as vegetated buffer strips, difficult to predict. Freshly made and aged (up to 30 days) cowpats were exposed to simulated rainfall, and samples of the cowpat material and runoff were collected. Escherichia coli in the runoff samples were separated into attached (to particles) and unattached fractions, and the unattached fraction was analyzed to determine if the cells were clumped. Within cowpats, E. coli grew for 6 to 14 days, rather than following a typical logarithmic die-off curve. E. coli numbers in the runoff correlated with numbers inside the cowpat. Most of the E. coli organisms eroded from the cowpats were transported as single cells, and only a small percentage (about 8%) attached to particles. The erosion of E. coli from cowpats and the state in which the cells were transported did not vary with time within a single rainfall event or over time as the cowpats aged and dried out. These findings indicate that cowpats can remain a significant source of E. coli in overland flow for more than 30 days. As well, most of the E. coli organisms eroded from cowpats will occur as readily transportable single cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: AgResearch, Private Bag 50034, Mosgiel, New Zealand. Phone: 64 3 489 9261. Fax: 64 3 489 3739. E-mail: richard.muirhead{at}agresearch.co.nz.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2005, p. 2875-2879, Vol. 71, No. 6
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.6.2875-2879.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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