Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7(4), 1597-1611; doi:10.3390/ijerph7041597
Article

Incidence and Distribution of Microfungi in a Treated Municipal Water Supply System in Sub-Tropical Australia

Noel B. Sammon 1,* email, Keith M. Harrower 1 , Larelle D. Fabbro 2 email and Rob H. Reed 1 email
1 Centre for Plant and Water Science, CQUniversity Australia, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia 2 Centre for Environmental Management, CQUniversity Australia, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 25 February 2010; in revised form: 29 March 2010 / Accepted: 31 March 2010 / Published: 6 April 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drinking Water and Health)
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Abstract: Drinking water quality is usually determined by its pathogenic bacterial content. However, the potential of water-borne spores as a source of nosocomial fungal infection is increasingly being recognised. This study into the incidence of microfungal contaminants in a typical Australian municipal water supply was carried out over an 18 month period. Microfungal abundance was estimated by the membrane filtration method with filters incubated on malt extract agar at 25 °C for seven days. Colony forming units were recovered from all parts of the system and these were enumerated and identified to genus level. The most commonly recovered genera were Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus and Fusarium.Nonparametric multivariate statistical analyses of the data using MDS, PCA, BEST and bubble plots were carried out with PRIMER v6 software. Positive and significant correlations were found between filamentous fungi, yeasts and bacteria. This study has demonstrated that numerous microfungal genera, including those that contain species which are opportunistic human pathogens, populate a typical treated municipal water supply in sub-tropical Australia.
Keywords: Aspergillus; microfungi; drinking water; human pathogens; nosocomial mycoses; immunosuppressed

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sammon, N.B.; Harrower, K.M.; Fabbro, L.D.; Reed, R.H. Incidence and Distribution of Microfungi in a Treated Municipal Water Supply System in Sub-Tropical Australia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7, 1597-1611.

AMA Style

Sammon NB, Harrower KM, Fabbro LD, Reed RH. Incidence and Distribution of Microfungi in a Treated Municipal Water Supply System in Sub-Tropical Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2010; 7(4):1597-1611.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sammon, Noel B.; Harrower, Keith M.; Fabbro, Larelle D.; Reed, Rob H. 2010. "Incidence and Distribution of Microfungi in a Treated Municipal Water Supply System in Sub-Tropical Australia." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 7, no. 4: 1597-1611.

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