POPULATION DYNAMICS OF SALMONELLA IN TROPICAL RIVER KSHIPRA INDIA WITH RELATION TO WATER QUALITY

Shivi Bhasin*, Arvind N. Shukla and Sharad Shrivastava

ABSTRACT

Salmonella is one of the leading cause of intestinal illness all over world responsible for giving rise to typhoid and paratyphoid fever. Aim of the study is to detect the presence of various Salmonella strains with relation to physico-chemical characteristics and water quality of river Kshipra. Results obtained from the study are compared with recent trends of Salmonella occurrence in freshwater bodies across the world. Samples were collected from November 2013-October 2014 covering five different sites with high anthropogenic activities and human interferences. The occurrence of Salmonella was observed throughout the year total five species of Salmonella were isolated which includes Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi A, Salmonella paratyphi B, Salmonella anatum and Salmonella typhimurium. Maximum strains of Salmonella were reported during summer at Ramghat and minimum during winter season at Kshipra village study site respectively. S. anatum was found to be the most dominant species, where as Salmonella paratyphi A showed least count. One of the main reasons for contamination of water body is its sharing between humans and animals. High count of Salmonella is found to be directly correlated with high biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and lower dissolved oxygen (DO). Sites with higher Salmonella count show low water quality index and increased pollution load. From the present work, it is also clear that occurrence of Salmonella is directly proportional to anthropogenic activities of humans, discharge of sewage effluents and faecal contamination. Thus, this makes water unfit for drinking, bathing and other domestic use without proper treatment, this in turn poses a health risk to the communities which reside near-by and rely on water of this particular river for their domestic use. Public awareness, proper sanitary conditions and appropriate measures to control water pollution are required to provide lifeline to the dying river.

Keywords: Bacteria, Pathogen, Water born disease, Water Pollution Salmonella.