Occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in water in Northern Ireland: implications for public health.

The occurrence of Campylobacter spp was examined in a variety of waters in Northern Ireland. Conventional cultural techniques were employed with 768 water specimens, including drinking waters (tap, spring, bore hole and bottled) and recreational waters (swimming pool, lough, river and sea). Positive waters included 1/11 (9.1%) drinking water from untreated well water, as well as 5/12 (41.7%) untreated surface waters from loughs and 7/8 (87.5%) untreated river waters. Overall, untreated surface waters may represent a source of contamination with Campylobacter spp. in Northern Ireland, where they have a recreational involvement or are used as a drinking source by man or agricultural livestock. Therefore waterborne campylobacteriosis should be considered in patients presenting with acute enteritis and a history of participation in water sports/activities. As faecal coliform organisms have been previously shown to be poor markers of water quality, especially for Campylobacter spp, new criteria should be established to assess the risk of this infection and to evaluate and monitor the quality of water used for recreational purposes.