The differences in associations between regions highlight the complexity of understanding pathogen ecology in freshwater environments and suggest substantial differences between intra-state regions in risk factors for Salmonella contamination of agricultural water.Īgricultural water used in produce production environments has been identified as a probable route of contamination in past produce outbreaks ( Greene et al., 2008 Klontz et al., 2010 Park et al., 2012 Rodrigues et al., 2020). coli levels in North Florida differed from those in South Florida no factors retrained in multivariable regression models were the same for the North and South Florida models. The factors associated with Salmonella presence and log 10 E. coli levels, and if a sample was Salmonella-positive. Regression analyses showed no evidence of a correlation between either log 10 total coliforms or E. While Salmonella was detected in 23.6% (17/72) of North Florida and 28.1% (27/96) of South Florida samples, the concentration ranged between <0.48 and 1.4 log 10 MPN/100 mL in North Florida, and <0.48 and 3.0 log 10 MPN/100 mL in South Florida. coli and total coliforms mean concentrations (log 10 MPN/100 mL) were 1.8 ± 0.6 and >3.0 ± 0.4 in North and 1.3 ± 0.6 and >3.3 ± 0.2 in South Florida waterways, respectively. coli levels and Salmonella presence), and water quality, weather, and land use factors separately for North and South Florida. Univariable and multivariable regression models were then developed to characterize associations between microbial water quality (i.e., E. Salmonella, generic Escherichia coli, total coliform, and aerobic plate count bacteria populations were enumerated in each sample. Land use around each sampling site was characterized, and weather and water quality data were collected at each sampling. Water samples were collected from six sites in North Florida ( N = 72 samples) and eight sites in South Florida ( N = 96 samples) over 12 sampling months. The relationship between Salmonella presence, and microbial and physicochemical water quality as well as weather and land use factors were evaluated. This study was undertaken to understand these associations in two produce-growing regions in Florida, USA, and to examine the pathogen ecology in waterways used for produce production. The presence, direction, and strength of associations between microbial and physicochemical parameters, and the presence of human pathogens in surface water vary across space (e.g., region) and time. The microbial quality of agricultural water is often assessed using fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and physicochemical parameters.

5Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, United States.4Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.3Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.2Citrus Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Lake Alfred, FL, United States.1Department of Food Science and Technology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States.Chapin 2 Rachel McEgan 2 Sweeya Gopidi 3 Loretta Friedrich 2 Lawrence D.

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