Fecal Contamination of Agricultural Soils Before and After Hurricane-Associated Flooding in North Carolina

Hurricane Floyd and other storms in 1999 caused widespread and extensive flooding of eastern North Carolina and environmental contamination with fecal wastes from municipal wastewater and livestock operations. Because wastewater contains high levels of pathogenic micro-organisms, principal health risks to humans from flooding are consumption of crops grown in fecally contaminated soil and ingestion of contaminated water. Flood waters polluted with microbial and other contaminants also may be detrimental to the health of livestock and plant crops. In the present study, agricultural soils impacted by flood waters were analyzed for bacterial and viral indicators of fecal contamination. Total coliforms, fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, spores of Clostridium perfringens, and both male specific (F+) and somatic coliphages were recovered from soil and assayed in liquid culture media. A number of samples were positive for the presence of fecal coliforms, E. coli, and coliphages, indicating the presence of human...