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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2006, p. 4067-4077, Vol. 72, No. 6
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02490-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in Lake Catchments, in River Water Abstracted for Domestic Use, and in Effluent from Domestic Sewage Treatment Works: Diverse Opportunities for Environmental Cycling and Human Exposure

R. W. Pickup,1* G. Rhodes,1 T. J. Bull,2 S. Arnott,1 K. Sidi-Boumedine,2 M. Hurley,3 and J. Hermon-Taylor2

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA21 4AP, United Kingdom,1 Department of Surgery, St. George's University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, United Kingdom,2 Centre for Applied Statistics, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Lancaster University, Fylde College, Lancaster LA1 4YH, United Kingdom3

Received 21 October 2005/ Accepted 20 March 2006

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from infected animals enters surface waters and rivers in runoff from contaminated pastures. We studied the River Tywi in South Wales, United Kingdom, whose catchment comprises 1,100 km2 containing more than a million dairy and beef cattle and more than 1.3 million sheep. The River Tywi is abstracted for the domestic water supply. Between August 2002 and April 2003, 48 of 70 (68.8%) twice-weekly river water samples tested positive by IS900 PCR. In river water, the organisms were associated with a suspended solid which was depleted by the water treatment process. Disposal of contaminated slurry back onto the land established a cycle of environmental persistence. A concentrate from 100 liters of finished water tested negative, but 1 of 54 domestic cold water tanks tested positive, indicating the potential for these pathogens to access domestic outlets. In the separate English Lake District region, with hills up to 980 m, tests for M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in the high hill lakes and sediments were usually negative, but streams and sediments became positive lower down the catchment. Sediments from 9 of 10 major lakes receiving inflow from these catchments were positive, with sediment cores indicating deposition over at least 40 to 50 years. Two of 12 monthly 1-liter samples of effluent and a single 100-liter sample from the Ambleside sewage treatment works were positive for M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Since Lake Ambleside discharges into Lake Windermere, which is available for domestic supply, there is a potential for these organisms to cycle within human populations.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA21 4AP, United Kingdom. Phone: 01524 595887. Fax: 01524 61536. E-mail: roger{at}ceh.ac.uk.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2006, p. 4067-4077, Vol. 72, No. 6
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02490-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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