The bacterial pathogen burden in agricultural systems is highly uncertain yet can cause significant outbreaks of disease in humans. Understanding the dynamics of critical environmental reservoirs of bacterial pathogens is a priority as agriculture undergoes unprecedented change in response to climate and food security drivers that challenge human health. This project will improve our knowledge of how natural populations of faecal bacteria, whose presence serves as a surrogate measure of infection risk to humans, persist in the environment. This is critical in order to safeguard public wellbeing and ensure the sustainability of key ecosystem services, such as the provision of clean and safe recreational and drinking water.

Older news items:

February '14: Two years of field data now collected (8 seasonal studies & 2 qPCR-culture cross-comparative studies)

June '13: Summer experiment will provide first assessment of culture vs qPCR derived E. coli profiles in dairy faeces

April '13: First year of data provides wealth of information to inform model development

March '13: Exploration of qPCR of E. coli in dairy faeces underway

Feb '13: E. coli regrowth profiles and die-off rates derived for spring, summer, autumn and winter in 2012, Scotland

December '12: Molecular Biology Research Technician appointed

September '12: Autumn experiment started

June - August '12: E. coli Persistence profiles in dairy faeces are derived for extremely wet summer conditions

March '12: qPCR vs culture debates via Delivering Healthy Water project

March '12: Spring experiment started

March '12: Project underway!