Abstract
Roof-collected rainwater is a common water source in subtropical regions and has not been associated with human illness. In Trinidad, the West Indies, a church group, attending a rural camp, developed gastrointestinal illness, caused by Salmonella arechevalata. This rare serotype was isolated from stool specimens of campers, foods eaten at the camp, and a water tap, which was supplied by a storage tank of roof-collected rainwater. The surface of the roof, used as water catchment, was covered with bird faeces. It is postulated that rainwater, falling on the roof, washed off animal excrement which contained S. arechevalata and led to the outbreak of salmonellosis through camper ingestion of contaminated food and water.
Full text
PDFSelected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Cornelius L. W. Field notes on salmonella infection in greenfinches and house sparrows. Wildl Dis. 1969 Jul;5(3):142–143. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-5.3.142. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Horwitz M. A., Hughes J. M., Craun G. F. Outbreaks of waterborne disease in the United States, 1974. J Infect Dis. 1976 May;133(5):588–593. doi: 10.1093/infdis/133.5.588. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Morse E. V., Duncan M. A. Salmonellosis--an environmental health problem. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1974 Dec 1;165(11):1015–1019. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Osborne A. D. Salmonella infections in animals and birds. R Soc Health J. 1976 Feb;96(1):30–33. doi: 10.1177/146642407609600110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Quevedo F., Lord R. D., Dobosch D., Granier I., Michanie S. C. Isolation of Salmonella from sparrows captured in horse corrals. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1973 Sep;22(5):672–674. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1973.22.672. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]