Yes, most are currently associated with nosocomial infections, with the remainder tied to our domestic food supply chain. Your self-proclaimed "robust" immune system has no additional ability to protect you. When you become infected via a bacterial pathogen there are several biochemical pathways, some of them pathogen class specific, that induce failure of your immune system. Endotoxin shock is one of the most serious. Individuals who survive an endotoxin schock event walk away with major kidney damage.
Chris, I am a former fishery research biologist(10 years), followed by 25 years with a Pharma. Co, then 2 years as a Clinical Research Manager for an Ortho. group at our Regional Tertiary Care Center. I recently worked for three years as a consultant for a non-profit environmental monitoring/education?Public outreach organization. We worked on an issue the City of Marquette had with elevated fecal coliform bacterial levels that, per EPA established criteria, required Public swimming beach closures at three of the five beaches along the Lake Superior in 2012; one of them on a too frequent basis, from the City Commission's perspective. Beach closures are posted throughout the Great Lakes on a National website-very bad for tourism.
EPA established their geometric mean fecal coliform count standards from several sets of infection risk data on open inshore waters. There are no set of recognized standards for hydrated soils. When I pulled the physical data sheets and started to plot the various parameters recorded, including dead birds and human use associated trash density average from two fifty foot transects walked by the field techs. when they were obtaining the water samples three times a week, submitted for analysis by the City's water treatment facility personnel, no broad trends surfaced. This was a very warm Summer on the northern Great Lakes, a lot of very warm sunny days strung together. When I pulled the meteorlogic data and individual water sample count values-the techs. take triplicate water samples at three GPS located stations along each beach section- I finally found a pattern. EVERY time there was a major rain event, coupled with relatively calm inshore waters, South Beach fecal coliform counts would jump at at least one of the sample sites. Each instance where a beach closure was mandated was associated with a heavy rain, calm inshore waters, and two of the three sample sites along South Beach spiking. The Public beach section south of the mouth of the Dead River would also evidence a coliform count spike at one or two of the northern sampling sites. When these coliform count spikes resulted in beach closure at this site, there was always an alongshore current running north to south. After physically inspecting these beach sites at four intervals during a day of Pulbic use, nothing appeared different (the physical data sheets actually require estimates of user density at each of the water sample site locations). I finally decided to sit down with the lifeguard crews and interview them to compare their observations. I decided it would be a good idea to do this when they first came on-duty in the early morning, so I wouldn't impact their work responsibilities. Two things became immediately apparent during my initial conversations. Each of the beaches associated with frequent closures was covered with seagulls each morning. Once the birds were chased-off by the lifeguards and beach users, most of them would fly north to a flat "skinny water" roost site on the southern side of the mouth of the Dead River. This was confirmed to be a routine event by the lifeguard crews. I spent a couple of days following the cohort of gulls that flew west. I eventually determined that these birds were flying inland, not to eat earthworms in farm fields, but to "feed" at our regional landfill site!
Following some conversations with regional EPA officials, I eventually was referred to Dr. Rose's lab. at Michigan State University for assistance in working-up a sample scheme to verify my broad hypothesis. Dr. Rose chaired a symposium that EPA sponsored, where a standardized procedure was set-forth to sample hydrated soils to assess fecal coliform content and consequent Public Health risk levels associated with routine contact. Following this conversation, I drew-up a sampling scheme and submitted it for check-off by City Public Works folks, the City Commission, Parks and Rec. personnel, and Dr. Rose's group. Several days after my call to MSU, I received two coolers and all of my sampling paraphernalia. The Director of the Marquette Water Treatment plant and I happily scooped replicate aliquots of beach sand from several randomly chosen transect sites at three locations at all of the City Public beach sites, as well as a transect across the bird roost at the mouth of the Dead River.
The end result of the MSU lab. analysis documented that the moist bench of each sand beach section above the wave surge line had elevated infectious fecal coliform counts, associated with sea gull and resident giant canada goose droppings(roughly 150). These essentially incubated in the warm moist sands, to be washed into inshore waters during downpours. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality personnel were notified. Grant monies were applied for and received, following all appropriate MDEQ permit application approvals to remodel nearly all of South Beach to elevate broad section exposed to Public use to enable better drainage and "dry" the most bench sections out so they would not serve as incubators, further elevating fecal coliform densities in the beach sands.
During my follow-up conversation with Michigan Public Health officials and Dr. Rose and her group, they were all quite concerned about the growing potential for "super bug" transmission from seagull droppings for the cohort that use the Public landfill. Fecal coliform counts in soil samples taken from the transect at the mouth of the Dead River used by seagulls, ducks and geese, prompted several Public Health Officials to refer to this site as an open sanitary sewer. Lake Superior levels have risen flooding out this roost site and altering bird densities in this area.
"Ya' ain't gonna learn what ya' don't wanna know!" -Jerry Garcia
