Detection of enteropathogens by PCR.

The widespread problem of contaminated water by enteric microorganisms necessitates the need to develop a rapid protocol to detect pathogens in water bodies. Usual methods like plating, biochemical tests and use of DNA probes are time consuming which is a limiting factor especially in epidemic situations. Moreover, some cells can exist in a virulent viable but non-culturable state making detection very difficult by plating method. This paper describes a rapid method to detect the enteropathogens,E.coli, Salmonella andVibrio and enteric viruses from water samples by Polymerase Chain Reaction.E.coli was specially chosen as it is an indicator of fecal contamination. The sensitivity ofE.coli detection was improved to 10 cells to keep in tune with the WHO guidelines. The presence ofE.coli would also indicate the probable presence of other pathogens.