{"id":{"repo_id":"maryland","oai_identifier":"oai:drum.lib.umd.edu:1903/14576"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/maryland/oai:drum.lib.umd.edu:1903/14576","repository":{"repo_id":"maryland","name":"University of Maryland","base_url":"https://api.drum.lib.umd.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Assessing the Presence of Antibiotic-Resistant Enterococcus in Reclaimed Water Used for Spray Irrigation","abstract":"Reclaiming wastewater is increasing in the US to combat dwindling freshwater supplies. This water potentially contains pathogenic bacteria; therefore, we evaluated the occurrence, concentration, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Enterococcus spp.--an important opportunistic pathogen that remains a leading cause of nosocomial infections--in reclaimed water used for spray irrigation (SI). A total of 48 wastewater effluent and SI samples were collected in 2009 and 2010 from the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the US. Enterococci were isolated using membrane filtration, confirmed using biochemical tests and PCR, and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using the Sensititre® dilution system. We detected total enterococci and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in 68% (27/40) and 8% (3/40), respectively, of all SI samples. VRE and vancomycin-intermediate enterococci (VIE) represented 2% (1/41) and 10% (4/41), respectively, of the total enterococci recovered from all SI sites. Our findings show that SI workers may be exposed to enterococci during spray irrigation activities.","abstract_html":"Reclaiming wastewater is increasing in the US to combat dwindling freshwater supplies. This water potentially contains pathogenic bacteria; therefore, we evaluated the occurrence, concentration, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Enterococcus spp.--an important opportunistic pathogen that remains a leading cause of nosocomial infections--in reclaimed water used for spray irrigation (SI). A total of 48 wastewater effluent and SI samples were collected in 2009 and 2010 from the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the US. Enterococci were isolated using membrane filtration, confirmed using biochemical tests and PCR, and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using the Sensititre® dilution system. We detected total enterococci and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in 68% (27/40) and 8% (3/40), respectively, of all SI samples. VRE and vancomycin-intermediate enterococci (VIE) represented 2% (1/41) and 10% (4/41), respectively, of the total enterococci recovered from all SI sites. Our findings show that SI workers may be exposed to enterococci during spray irrigation activities.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Carey, Stephanie Ann"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Sapkota, Amy R","Turner, Paul"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013","date_published":"2013","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:02:18Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1903/14576","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Sapkota, Amy R","Turner, Paul"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Carey, Stephanie Ann"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2013-10-09T05:32:24Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-10-09T05:32:24Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1903/14576"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Reclaiming wastewater is increasing in the US to combat dwindling freshwater supplies. This water potentially contains pathogenic bacteria; therefore, we evaluated the occurrence, concentration, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Enterococcus spp.--an important opportunistic pathogen that remains a leading cause of nosocomial infections--in reclaimed water used for spray irrigation (SI). A total of 48 wastewater effluent and SI samples were collected in 2009 and 2010 from the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the US. Enterococci were isolated using membrane filtration, confirmed using biochemical tests and PCR, and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using the Sensititre® dilution system. We detected total enterococci and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in 68% (27/40) and 8% (3/40), respectively, of all SI samples. VRE and vancomycin-intermediate enterococci (VIE) represented 2% (1/41) and 10% (4/41), respectively, of the total enterococci recovered from all SI sites. Our findings show that SI workers may be exposed to enterococci during spray irrigation activities."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Assessing the Presence of Antibiotic-Resistant Enterococcus in Reclaimed Water Used for Spray Irrigation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Sapkota, Amy R","Turner, Paul"],"dc:contributor.department":["Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health"],"dc:creator":["Carey, Stephanie Ann"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2013-10-09T05:32:24Z"],"dc:date.available":["2013-10-09T05:32:24Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013"],"dc:description.abstract":["Reclaiming wastewater is increasing in the US to combat dwindling freshwater supplies. This water potentially contains pathogenic bacteria; therefore, we evaluated the occurrence, concentration, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Enterococcus spp.--an important opportunistic pathogen that remains a leading cause of nosocomial infections--in reclaimed water used for spray irrigation (SI). A total of 48 wastewater effluent and SI samples were collected in 2009 and 2010 from the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the US. Enterococci were isolated using membrane filtration, confirmed using biochemical tests and PCR, and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using the Sensititre® dilution system. We detected total enterococci and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in 68% (27/40) and 8% (3/40), respectively, of all SI samples. VRE and vancomycin-intermediate enterococci (VIE) represented 2% (1/41) and 10% (4/41), respectively, of the total enterococci recovered from all SI sites. Our findings show that SI workers may be exposed to enterococci during spray irrigation activities."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1903/14576"],"dc:title":["Assessing the Presence of Antibiotic-Resistant Enterococcus in Reclaimed Water Used for Spray Irrigation"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:02:18Z"}