Loading...
Theses
Browse
3 results
Search Results
ThesisItem Open Access Assessment of quality of well water in Eloor, Kerala(Department of Veterinary Public Health,College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Mannuthy, 2010) Divya Rani, Thomas; KAU; Sunil, BA comparative assessment of physical, chemical and microbiological quality of well water from Eloor, an industrial area in Ernakulum District of Kerala, India and Ollukara, a non industrial area, in Thrissur district of Kerala, India, was carried out to correlate the impact of industrialization on quality of well water. A total of 200 well water samples consisting of 100 each from both areas were taken for the study. Of the 100 samples, 25 samples each were collected during four different seasons of the year viz., summer (February), pre-monsoon (March-May), monsoon (June-September) and post-monsoon (October-November), to assess change in the quality of well water with the seasons. Mean temperature of well water was higher in Eloor than in Ollukara. The lowest temperature was recorded during monsoon in Eloor and Ollukara, and the highest temperature was recorded during pre-monsoon in Eloor and summer in Ollukara. Acidic pH was observed in both areas, with significantly lower pH in Ollukara. Higher pH values were observed during monsoon and post monsoon and lower during summer and pre-monsoon seasons. Mean total hardness of water was higher in Eloor than in Ollukara and the difference was highly significant. Highest value of total hardness was observed during summer in Eloor and monsoon in Ollukara. Mean COD of water samples showed no significant difference between two areas. In Eloor, the highest and lowest COD were observed during summer and monsoon, respectively. While in Ollukara, highest and lowest COD were observed during post monsoon and pre monsoon, respectively. Mean nitrate concentration was similar in water samples collected from Eloor and Ollukara with lowest concentration observed during pre - monsoon and summer in Eloor and Ollukara respectively, whereas it was highest during post monsoon in both areas. Mean fluoride concentration in well water samples from Eloor was significantly higher than that of Ollukara and no significant seasonal difference was observed in fluoride concentration in well water from Eloor. However, significant seasonal variations were observed in fluoride concentration in Ollukara viz., lower during monsoon and post monsoon, and higher during summer and pre-monsoon. Mean iron concentration was higher in Eloor and had highly significant difference with mean concentration in Ollukara. Significant difference in mean iron concentrations between four seasons could not be observed in Eloor, whereas in Ollukara, four different seasons showed significant difference. Lower concentration was observed during summer and pre-monsoon and higher during monsoon and post monsoon. A significantly higher lead concentration was recorded in well water from Eloor than that from Ollukara. In Ollukara, there was significant seasonal difference in mean lead concentration with highest during monsoon and the lowest during pre-monsoon seasons respectively. Throughout the entire period of study no mercury could be detected in well water samples from both areas. There was no significant difference in mean zinc concentration between well water samples from Eloor and Ollukara. In Eloor, the concentration in summer season was significantly higher than during other seasons. In Ollukara mean zinc concentration in post monsoon was significantly higher than during other seasons. Mean cadmium concentration was similar in both areas and was found to be significantly higher during monsoon season at both Eloor and Ollukara. It was observed that mean Aerobic Plate Count was higher in Eloor than that of Ollukara and the difference was highly significant. There was no significant difference observed between four seasons in Eloor. In Ollukara, significant difference between seasons could be observed with highest count during summer. The mean coliform count of well water from Eloor was significantly higher than that of Ollukara. There was no seasonal variation in mean coliform count in Eloor. Whereas significant variation in mean colifrom count between seasons was observed in Ollukara with highest count during monsoon and lowest during summer. The mean E. coli count in well water from Eloor and Ollukara did not differ significantly. There was no difference in mean E. coli count between four seasons in well water from Eloor and Ollukara. The mean enterococcal count of well water samples from Eloor and Ollukara did not show significant difference. The mean count was significantly higher in Eloor during summer, but there was no seasonal difference in enterococcal count in Ollukara. From the survey conducted among 25 households having wells in Eloor and Ollukara, it could be concluded that 20 and 100 per cent of households, used well as source of drinking water in Eloor and Ollukara respectively. Eighty percent wells were pucca wells in Eloor, whereas only 60 per cent of wells were pucca in Ollukara. Disinfection of wells was practiced by 48 and 52 per cent respectively in Eloor and Ollukara. Only 32 and 36 per cent wells respectively had distance more than 15 metre from nearest polluting source. Among the major human health problems in Eloor, 88, 72, 60, 40, 12, 4 and 16 per cent of household reported respiratory problems, skin diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, headache, ophthalmic problem, neoplasm and congenital anomalies and mental retardation, respectively, which were suggestive of iron, lead and cadmium toxicity and poor quality of air. Whereas in Ollukara, health problems were comparatively less and only 12 per cent house hold reported respiratory problem. Among the major animal health problems in Eloor were digestive disorders, reproductive disorders, skin diseases and lameness indicating iron, lead, cadmium and fluoride toxicity. Retrospective analysis of cases recorded in Eloor veterinary hospital, from January 2005 to December 2009, also revealed symptoms of iron, lead and cadmium toxicity in animals. It was observed that Kuzhikandam creek in Eloor was heavily polluted and acted as a potent source of groundwater pollution. From the comparative study, it was clear that the groundwater contamination in Eloor was purely chemical of industrial origin, while in Ollukara it was attributed to the soil type and household pollution. Construction of sanitary wells, keeping adequate distance from polluting sources, with adequate platform, drainage and parapet is recommended. Steining of wells and covering the wells with nets should also be adopted. Disinfection of wells with sufficient quantity of suitable disinfectant at regular interval also helps to minimize pollution mainly of microbial origin.ThesisItem Open Access Application of polymerase chain reaction for rapid evaluation of hygienic status of milk(Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,Mannuthy, 2008) Deepa Mary, J J; KAU; Sunil, BRapid assessment of the bacterial load and detection of pathogens in milk is of public health significance. Molecular detection of pathogenic microorganisms is based on DNA amplification of the target pathogens. Therefore efficient extraction of DNA directly from milk is a major step. DNA could be efficiently extracted directly from milk by a prior sample preparation so as to remove the fat and milk proteins. The phenol chloroform method of DNA extraction was modified to reduce the time require for the procedure. The use of lysozyme helped the release of DNA from lysed gram positive Staphylococcus aureus. The extracted DNA was used as template in PCR. PCR was carried out with already published primers. PCR was modified with the use of PCR buffer containing PCR facilitators (BSA and Tween 20) to overcome PCR inhibition. The standardized procedure was used to assess the bacterial load and to detect Escherichia coli and S. aureus directly from milk. To assess the bacterial load dilutions of milk were made upto10-10. DNA was extracted from each dilution with which PCR was carried out with primers specific for Pseudomonas. Aerobic Plate Count was also done for the same samples and compared with PCR. It could be concluded that the approximate APC of the milk sample by PCR is next lower dilution to the dilution giving the PCR amplification. The total time taken for the analysis was approximately five hours. Extraction of DNA and PCR was done with primers for detection of E. coli from the same milk samples and compared with culture. Percentage of samples positive both by culture and PCR was 50 and negative by both methods were 30. Twenty percentage of the samples were positive by PCR and negative by culture. Extraction of DNA and PCR was done with primers for detection of S. aureus from the same milk samples and compared with culture. Percentage of samples positive both by culture and PCR was 60 and negative by both methods were 20. Twenty percentage of the samples were negative by PCR and positive by culture. Hence, protocol developed for detection of S. aureus needs further refinement to take care of false negative results by PCR, probably due to the low number of organisms present in milk.ThesisItem Open Access Assessment of microbial quality, adulterants and preservatives in pasteurized milk(Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 2008) Bhagyalakshmi, P S; KAU; Nanu, EIn the present study 200 pasteurized milk samples were collected from the retail shops of Thrissur and Palakkad districts. From Thrissur district, 20 samples each were collected from five brands viz., A, B, C, D and E, and an equal number of samples were obtained from the brands F, G, H, I and J of Palakkad district. All the samples were analyzed for the microbial quality by estimating various bacterial counts and yeast and mould count and also assessed the presence of certain pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. The milk samples were also tested to detect the presence of adulterants viz., starch and cane sugar and preservatives like carbonates and formaldehyde. The study revealed that the samples belonging to Thrissur district had an overall mean total viable count, coliform count, Escherichia coli count, psychrotrophic count, faecal streptococcal count and yeast and mould count of 5.08 ± 0.05, 2.89 ± 0.09, 0.53 ± 0.11, 5.30 ± 0.01, 3.40 ± 0.14 and 1.89 ± 0.08 log10 cfu/ml, respectively. The corresponding count in the samples of Palakkad district was 5.24 ± 0.04, 3.01 ± 0.20, 0.78 ± 0.12, 4.99 ± 0.05, 3.20 ± 0.07 and 2.03 ± 0.09 log10 cfu/ml. According to the total viable count limit prescribed by BIS (1992) 50 per cent samples from brand E were graded as satisfactory and the samples from all other brands were graded as unsatisfactory. The highest mean total viable count was seen in the samples of brand A (5.39 ± 0.04 log10 cfu/ml). Of the samples collected from Thrissur district, the lowest count (4.51 ± 0.08 log10 cfu/ml) was recorded from the samples of brand E. The samples collected from I brand of Palakkad district had the highest mean total viable count (5.35 ± 0.05 log10 cfu/ml) and the lowest count (5.19 ± 0.09 log10 cfu/ml) was observed in the samples of brand G. Of the 100 samples collected from Thrissur district, the samples belonging to brand A had the highest mean coliform count (3.40 ± 0.17 log10 cfu/ml). An equal number of samples collected from Palakkad district revealed that the highest mean count (4.39 ± 0.02 log10 cfu/ml) was observed in the samples belonging to brand I. According to the bacterial count limit prescribed by BIS (1992) 70 per cent of the samples from brand H were graded as satisfactory and the samples belonging to all other brands were graded as unsatisfactory. The overall mean coliform count of the samples belonging to various brands from Thrissur and Palakkad districts were at the level of two and three log10 cfu/ml, respectively. The samples belonging to brand E of Thrissur and brand H of Palakkad had the lowest mean count. The samples collected from brand A of Thrissur district had the highest mean Escherichia coli count (0.92 ± 0.31 log10 cfu/ml) and the lowest count (0.10 ± 0.10 log10 cfu/ml) was observed in the samples belonging to the brand E. Among the samples collected from Palakkad district, the highest mean count (1.54 ± 0.11 log10 cfu/ml) was observed in the samples of the brand I and the lowest count (0.43 ± 0.23 log10 cfu/ml) was seen in the samples belonging to the brand H. The highest mean psychrotrophic count (5.39 ± 0.02 log10 cfu/ml) was seen in the samples belonging to brand C of Thrissur district and the lowest count (5.29 ± 0.05 log10 cfu/ml) was observed in the samples of the brand B. Among the samples from Palakkad district, the highest mean count (5.43 ± 0.01 log10 cfu/ml) was seen in the samples of the brand I and the lowest count (4.63 ± 0.10 log10 cfu/ml) was observed in the samples of the brand H. Of the samples collected from Thrissur district, the lowest mean faecal streptococcal count (2.95 ± 0.17 log10 cfu/ml) was seen in samples belonging to brand C and the highest count (3.78 ± 0.16 log10 cfu/ml) was observed in the samples of the brand B. Among the samples belonging to various brands of Palakkad district, the lowest mean count (2.88 ± 0.12 log10 cfu/ml) was seen in samples of the brand G and the highest count (3.51 ± 0.21 log10 cfu/ml) was observed in the samples of the brand I. Among the samples collected from the five brands of Thrissur district, the highest mean yeast and mould count (2.46 ± 0.17 log 10 cfu/ml) was seen in the samples of the brand A and the lowest count (1.35 ± 0.08 log 10 cfu/ml) was observed in the samples of the brand E. Of the samples belonging to the five brands of Palakkad, the highest mean count was seen in the samples of the brand J (2.40 ± 0.24 log10 cfu/ml) and the lowest count was observed in the samples of the brand F (1.66 ± 0.09 log10 cfu/ml). A highly significant (P<0.01) difference was noticed among the mean total viable count, coliform count, faecal streptoccal count and yeast and mould count of various brands of pasteurized milk from Thrissur district. Similarly a highly significant (P<0.01) difference was noticed among the mean coliform count, Escherichia coli count and psychrotrophic count of the samples belong to the five brands of pasteurized milk from Palakkad district. Escherichia coli was isolated from 10 per cent of the samples belonging to Thrissur and the isolates consisted of serotype of O4 (1), rough strains (2) and untypable strains (7). The organism was isolated from 11 per cent of the samples collected from Palakkad. One of the isolates was serotyped as O4 and three isolates were serotyped as O60. One isolate fell in the class rough and six isolates were untypable. Two isolates each from Thrissur and Palakkad districts revealed congo red binding charecteristics. Staphylococcus aureus could not isolate from the samples obtained from Thrissur and Palakkad districts. Pseudomonas organism was isolated from four and six per cent of the samples from Thrissur and Palakkad. The isolates were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas flourescens, Pseudomonas cepacia and Pseudomonas putida. Bacillus cereus was isolated from three samples obtained from Thrissur district and two samples belonging to Palakkad district. None of the samples from Thrissur and Palakkad districts revealed the presence of the adulterants like starch and cane sugar and preservative like bicarbonates. But formaldehyde was detected from 19 per cent of the samples from Thrissur and 47 per cent of the samples from Palakkad.