Animal Waste, Water Quality and Human Health

2007). This research infers that Salmonella loading is likely a result of animalexcreta as well as discharge from wastewater treatment works.Excreta from domesticated poultry such as ducks and geese have been notedto carry Salmonella (Yu et al. 2008). Migratory populations of shorebirds, suchas Canada geese and gulls, have become resident populations and could beviewed in the same light as domesticated populations. Ishii et al. (2006) notedfrequent Salmonella isolates in mats of filamentous green algae. The likelysource was hypothesized to be gulls. In a 2008 Great Lakes study, thecarriage rate of Salmonella among urbanized gull populations in Lake County,Illinois, USA was estimated at ten percent (Kinzelman, unpublished).Although there have been rare instances of salmonellosis contracted fromrecreational waters (Pond 2005) the presence of pathogen strains cannot implyzero effect and, therefore, exposure interventions such as fencing and wiringmay be appropriate where there is indication that animals are likely to comein contact with bathing waters. Behaviour modification such discouragingfeeding is also of benefit although difficult to enforce both from a regulatorystandpoint and as the presence of shorebirds is felt to add to the ambience ofa coastal visit by some.8.4.4 CampylobacterExposure interventions 299Campylobacter spp. are adapted to the gut of warm blooded animals (includingruminants, avian populations and humans), hence animal-to-animal and animalto-humaninfection is most likely to occur at water bodies impacted by excreta(Pond 2005). A New Zealand study (McBride et al. 2005) done in response tohigh rates of campylobacteriosis found that a large proportion of Campylobacterin rivers and streams originated from sheep and dairy cattle; this affirmed thefindings of a previous study (Baker et al. 2002). Other investigations havefound that wild birds, poultry and urbanized avian populations (ducks, geese,and gulls) excrete a variety of human gastrointestinal pathogens in theirdroppings. These included the bacteria Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella,Vibrio cholerae, Yersinia spp. and E. coli O157, the protozoa Giardia andCryptosporidium, as well as the bacterial indicators of pollution, faecalcoliforms and enterococci (Fallacara et al. 2001, Jones 2004, Ishii et al. 2006,Kinzelman et al. 2008). Therefore, wild birds, urbanized birds and poultry mayserve as expansion environmental reservoirs of infection for Campylobacter(Jones 2004).Based on this information, intervention measures must be considered fordrinking-water, recreational activities, contact with livestock or other humanactivities resulting in exposure. Intervention measures might include the