Distribution and Ecology of Campylobacters in Coastal Plain Streams (Georgia, United States of America)䌤 Ethell Vereen, Jr.,1,2 R. Richard Lowrance,2 Dana J. Cole,1 and Erin K. Lipp1* University of Georgia, Department of Environmental Health Science, Athens, Georgia 30602,1 and USDA Agricultural Research Service, Southeast Watershed Research Lab, Tifton, Georgia 317932 Received 12 July 2006/Accepted 5 December 2006
Campylobacter is the leading cause of bacterium-associated diarrhea in the United States and most developed countries. While this disease is considered a food-borne disease, many clinical cases cannot be linked to a food source. In rural and agrarian areas environmental transmission may be an important factor contributing to case loads. Here we investigated the waterborne prevalence of campylobacters in a mixed-use rural watershed in the coastal plain of southern Georgia (United States). Six sites representing various degrees of agricultural and human influence were surveyed biweekly to monthly for 1 year for the presence of culturable thermophilic campylobacters and other measures of water quality. Campylobacters were frequently present in agricultureand sewage-impacted stretches of streams. The mean campylobacter counts and overall prevalence were highest downstream from a wastewater treatment plant that handled both human and poultry slaughterhouse waste (
