| Abstract
| - Bacteroidales host-specific PCR offers a rapid method ofdiagnosing fecal pollution in water and identifying sourcesof input. To assess human health risks from exposure tofecal pathogens, however, Bacteroidales markers should bedetectable when pathogens are present. To determine ifBacteroidales general, human-, ruminant-, and swine-specificmarkers correlate with certain fecal pathogens, weconducted a retrospective study on water samples forwhich the presence of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp.,and Campylobacter spp. had been determined. We founda positive relationship between detection of the Bacteroidalesgeneral fecal marker and presence of the pathogens.Detection of ruminant-specific markers predicted E. coli O157:H7 occurrence. There was a significant increase in thelikelihood of detecting Salmonella when a ruminant markerwas present, and Campylobacter spp. when humanmarkers were present. For pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 that are strongly associated with particular hosts,Bacteroidales host-specific markers can estimate thelikelihood of pathogen occurrence, enabling more accuratehealth risk assessments.
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