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Biomedical subjects

Joan B Rose

Publications and source records attributed to Joan B Rose.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Geographical variation in ribotype profiles of Escherichia coli isolates from humans, swine, poultry, beef, and dairy cattle in Florida.

Waters impacted by fecal pollution can exact high risks to human health and can result in financial losses due to closures of water systems used for recreation and for harvesting seafood. Identifying the sources of fecal pollution in water is paramount in assessing the potential human health risks involved as well as in assessing necessary remedial action. Recently, various researchers have used the ribotyping method to identify sources of bacterial indicators (Escherichia coli and enterococci) in environmental waters. While these studies have identified genotypic differences between human- and animal-derived indicators that are capable of differentiating organisms isolated from humans and various animal hosts, most have focused on organisms collected from a confined geographic area and have not addressed the question of whether these ribotype profiles are watershed specific or if they can be applied universally to organisms from other geographic locations. In this study, E. coli isolates were obtained from humans, beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, and poultry from locations in northern, central, and southern Florida and were subjected to ribotyping analysis. The intent was to determine (i) if ribotype profiles are capable of discriminating the source of E. coli at the host species level and (ii) if the resulting fingerprints are uniform over an extended geographic area or if they can be applied only to a specific watershed. Our research indicated that, using a single restriction enzyme (HindIII), the ribotyping procedure is not capable of differentiating E. coli isolates from the different animal species sampled in this study. Results indicate, however, that this procedure can still be used effectively to differentiate E. coli as being either human or animal derived when applied to organisms isolated from a large geographic region.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Infectious Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in final reclaimed effluent.

Water samples collected throughout several reclamation facilities were analyzed for the presence of infectious Cryptosporidium parvum by the focus detection method-most-probable-number cell culture technique. Results revealed the presence of infectious C. parvum oocysts in 40% of the final disinfected effluent samples. Sampled effluent contained on average seven infectious oocysts per 100 liters. Thus, reclaimed water is not pathogen free but contains infectious C. parvum.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Pathogenic human viruses in coastal waters.

This review addresses both historical and recent investigations into viral contamination of marine waters. With the relatively recent emergence of molecular biology-based assays, a number of investigations have shown that pathogenic viruses are prevalent in marine waters being impacted by sewage. Research has shown that this group of fecal-oral viral pathogens (enteroviruses, hepatitis A viruses, Norwalk viruses, reoviruses, adenoviruses, rotaviruses, etc.) can cause a broad range of asymptomatic to severe gastrointestinal, respiratory, and eye, nose, ear, and skin infections in people exposed through recreational use of the water. The viruses and the nucleic acid signature survive for an extended period in the marine environment. One of the primary concerns of public health officials is the relationship between the presence of pathogens and the recreational risk to human health in polluted marine environments. While a number of studies have attempted to address this issue, the relationship is still poorly understood. A contributing factor to our lack of progress in the field has been the lack of sensitive methods to detect the broad range of both bacterial and viral pathogens. The application of new and advanced molecular methods will continue to contribute to our current state of knowledge in this emerging and important field.

Humans↗
PubMed2002

Preliminary evidence for human fecal contamination in corals of the Florida Keys, USA.

Corals and reef environments are under increased stress from anthropogenic activities, particularly those in the vicinity of heavily populated areas such as the Florida Keys. The potential adverse impacts of wastewater can affect both the environment and human health; however, because of the high decay rate of bacterial indicators in coral reef waters it has been difficult to document the presence of microbial contaminants and to assign risks in these environments. Here we show initial evidence that microorganisms associated with human feces are concentrated along the surface of coral heads relative to the overlying water column in the Florida Keys. Bacterial indicators (fecal coliform bacteria, enterococci or Clostridium perfringens) were detected in 66.7% of the coral surface microlayer (CSM) samples at levels between five and 1000 CFU/100 ml, but were found infrequently and at low numbers in the overlying water column ( < or = 2.5 CFU/100 ml). Similarly, enterovirus nucleic acid sequences, an indicator of human-specific waste, were detected in 93.3% of the CSM samples and only once in the water column by cell culture. Results show that coral mucus may accumulate enteric microorganisms in reef environments, and may indicate a risk to public and environmental health despite low indicator levels in the surrounding water.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Low- and medium-pressure UV inactivation of microsporidia Encephalitozoon intestinalis.

Newly recognized waterborne pathogens such as microsporidia are being detected in the world's water supplies with increasing frequency. Many of these organisms have been shown to cause negative health impacts for both immunocompetent as well as immunocompromised individuals. It is imperative that these emerging pathogens be investigated for their ability to resist both traditional and novel disinfection technologies that are currently in use or under consideration for drinking water treatment. Low- and medium pressure UV light is at the cutting edge of disinfection technologies for the drinking water industry. While previous UV disinfection studies have focused on the inactivation of Cryptosporidium and Giardia as well as viruses and common bacteria, this research reports the ability of low- and medium pressure UV light to inactivate > 3.6 log10 of microsporidia Encephalitozoon intestinalis spores at a dose of 6 mJ/cm2 or higher as determined using a cell culture approach.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Cryptosporidium parvum and Cyclospora cayetanensis: a review of laboratory methods for detection of these waterborne parasites.

Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora are obligate, intracellular, coccidian protozoan parasites that infest the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals causing severe diarrhea illness. In this paper, we present an overview of the conventional and more novel techniques that are currently available to detect Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora in water. Conventional techniques and new immunological and genetic/molecular methods make it possible to assess the occurrence, prevalence, virulence (to a lesser extent), viability, levels, and sources of waterborne protozoa. Concentration, purification, and detection are the three key steps in all methods that have been approved for routine monitoring of waterborne oocysts. These steps have been optimized to such an extent that low levels of naturally occurring Cryptosporidium oocysts can be efficiently recovered from water. The filtration systems developed in the US and Europe trap oocysts more effectively and are part of the standard methodologies for environmental monitoring of Cryptosporidium oocysts in source and treated water. Purification techniques such as immunomagnetic separation and flow cytometry with fluorescent activated cell sorting impart high capture efficiency and selective separation of oocysts from sample debris. Monoclonal antibodies with higher avidity and specificity to oocysts in water concentrates have significantly improved the detection and enumeration steps. To date, PCR-based detection methods allow us to differentiate the human pathogenic Cryptosporidium parasites from those that do not infect humans, and to track the source of oocyst contamination in the environment. Cell culture techniques are now used to examine oocyst viability. While fewer studies have focused on Cyclospora cayetanensis, the parasite has been successfully detected in drinking water and wastewater using current methods to recover Cryptosporidium oocysts. More research is needed for monitoring of Cyclospora in the environment. Meanwhile, molecular methods (e.g. molecular markers such as intervening transcribed spacer regions), which can identify different genotypes of C. cayetanensis, show good promise for detection of this emerging coccidian parasite in water.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Risk and control of waterborne cryptosporidiosis.

Cryptosporidium remains at the forefront of studies on waterborne disease transmission and abatement. The impact of environmental land use patterns which contribute animal and human waste, climatic precipitation leading to a strong association with outbreaks, and community infrastructure and water treatment are now recognized as contributing factors in the potential for waterborne spread of the protozoan. Advances in detection methodologies, including the ability to genotype various strains of this organism, have shown that human wastes are often the source of the contamination and cell culture techniques have allowed insight into the viability of the oocyst populations. Currently water treatment has focused on UV and ozone disinfection as most promising for the inactivation of this protozoan pathogen.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of tissue culture and animal models for assessment of Cryptospridium parvum infection.

The current increased interest for using tissue culture as a surrogate for mouse infection to assess Cryptospridium viability suggests that a comparison of the two models is essential for data interpretation. Therefore, a need remains for a statistical comparison that can demonstrate if infection and inactivation predicted by new tissue culture models are comparable with those predicted by animal models. Data from a total of 31 dose-response trials using both tissue culture and mouse models to assess C. parvum infectivity were compared. The dose needed to infect 50% of the tissue cultures (ID(50)) was also compared to each ID(50) in mice. Average ID(50)s developed using the logit dose-response method for tissue culture and mice were 8 and 107, respectively, suggesting that tissue culture was more sensitive to infection. However, correlation (r) between tissue culture and mouse infectivity was statistically significant (0.9167 [95% CI=0.8428 to 0.9594, p<0.0001]). Comparison of oocyst disinfection by UV and chlorine dioxide showed no significant difference between inactivation predicted by tissue culture and mouse models (p=0.8893; t=0.0141; n=21). These results demonstrate that tissue culture can successfully be used to measure C. parvum infection and can be used for determining inactivation in disinfection studies.

Adenocarcinoma↗