Food Microbiology

The waterborne pathogenic bacteria, especially the enteric bacteria of human fecal origin have become currently a global public health issue. The detection and quantification of drinking water microorganisms are an essential part of any quality control or water safety management plan interconnected to enteric bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Vibrio cholerae or to nonfecal bacterial pathogens such as Legionella spp. The standard methods of detecting waterborne pathogenic bacteria are time-consuming due to the growing step in a specific culture media, followed by isolation, microbiological and/or serological identification and in some cases followed by subspecific characterization. This study aimed to develop a faster, powerful, more sensitive and reproducible diagnostic tool to monitor a specific pathogen contamination in drinking water by specific antibodyantigen interactions. Three pathogenic bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Legionella spp. were detectedby immunofluorescence technique with fluorochome tagged antibodies. Our results showed a good specificity of the antibodies in a very complex bacterial mixt as well as a starting detection level from 1 bacteria/ml. Overall, these techniques proved to be a reliable one, time-effective and sensitive for diagnosis and prevention of drinking water quality and waterborne bacterial disease.