The mayor of osoyoos is vaguely blaming geese for high E coliform counts. Unfortunately he is NOT an expert in zoonotic diseases. There is little to no evidence to show Canada geese normally carry E coli since it is found in the guts of mammals or that the e coli they contract from mammals is transmissable to humans. Page 24 As has been discussed above, many researchers have reported finding relatively low numbers of various pathogens in avian feces. This coupled with the fact that some species specific human pathogens such as Shigella and Norovirus have not been shown to be spread via an avian intermediary make one question the relationship between E.coli and/or Enterococci in water heavily contaminated via avian fecal material. When the above research is taken into account it calls into question the risk posed by various concentrations of E.coli in surface waters impacted by avian feces. That is to say, due to possible decreased numbers of human pathogens relative to E.coli in the guts of avian species, 235 E.coli /100mL of avian derived E.coli may not constitute as large a risk to public health as 100 E.coli /100mL of water derived from other sources. Page 24 The links between what diseases „may‟ be passed from avian species to aquatic environments, and what actually is passed is lacking. As stated above, several researchers have found avian species NOT ABLE TO TRANSMIT pathogenic viruses and bacteria that are found in human waste. meeting.ijc.org/sites/default/files/workgroups/Kleinheinz_2.pdf
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 22:46:45 +0000