1.1 Introduction
Waterborne diseases are those diseases that are transmitted through the direct drinking of water contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms. Contaminated drinking water when used in the preparation of food can be the source of food borne disease through consumption of the same microorganisms. Most waterborne diseases are often transmitted via the fecal-oral route, and this occurs when human faecal material is ingested through drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated food which mainly arises from poor sewage management and improper sanitation. Faecal pollution of drinking-water may be sporadic and the degree of faecal contamination maybe low or fluctuate widely.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Water is an essential substance in human life as it is used for various purposes sucg as drunking washing cooking. Human noroviruses cause the most gastrointestinal illness in all regions of the world, with the vast majority thought to be acquired via person-to-person and then by food (Ahmed et al., 2014) given the predominance of genogroup II strains implicated. In waterborne cases, genogroup I is normally implicated (Mathew et al., 2012), presumably due to increased environmental robustness. An interesting finding with human noroviruses and the second most common cause of gastrointestinal illness, rotavirus (although greatly diminishing due to childhood vaccination programs), is the need for certain histo-blood group antigen (HBGA) receptors for these pathogens to bind to target cells (Tan and Viang, 2014).
Not only do certain gut bacteria have these HBGA binding sites but these bacteria may also facilitate infection, as recently demonstrated with human B cells (Jones et al., 2014). Therefore, one’s gut microbiome and blood group impact the likelihood of infection. Furthermore, there is now optimism that a routine cell culture system for human noroviruses may be developed, which would be of particular value to the water-treatment industry. Non-human, culturable noroviruses, such as murine noroviruses among others, are used as surrogates for treatment performance (inactivation studies) but there is limited understanding of the validity of these surrogates for any human norovirus genogroup or mode of inactivation (LI et al.,2014; Cromeans et al., 2014).
The classic waterborne enteric pathogens include Vibrio cholerae (serogroups O1 and O139, causing cholera), Salmonella enterica (subsp. enterica ser. Typhi, causing typhoid), and Shigella spp. (four species causing dysentery), which have largely been controlled by water treatment/disinfection and are therefore rarely an issue via drinking water in developed regions. However, person-to-person and foodborne spread maintains Shigella sonnei within the sewage of developed regions, along with closely-related shiga toxin and verotoxin-producing E. coli, and pathogenic species of Campylobacter, Salmonella, Arcobacter, Helicobacter and Yersinia. An emerging issue is that of AMR, which may occur within any of the bacterial members but is noted here by example for E. coli in well waters associated with animal production (Coleman et al., 2013). These AMR genes may horizontally transfer between commensal and enteric pathogenic bacteria, and present a higher risk due to antimicrobial treatment failures (Ashbolt et al., 2013). Within healthcare facilities, there is also a considerable health burden due to the prevalence of AMR Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Clostridium difficile; with the latter being a spore-former it may persist in sewage and river waters and eventually make its way to drinking waters, and AMR-P. aeruginosa may grow post-water treatment.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to carry out a Comparative Analysis of Sources of Water and Water Borne Diseases.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that some common feature of the water-based pathogens is the ability to grow to problematic concentrations within bio-films on pipe walls and sediments, particularly during periods of water stagnation and warmer conditions; therefore, control below some critical concentration is necessary to manage these environmental pathogens. Hence there is need for Comparative Analysis of Sources of Water and Water Borne Diseases.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to comparatively analyze the sources of water and water borne diseases. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To determine the various sources of water in the area under study;
- To investigate the contributing factors of water borne diseases; and
- To assess the role of sources of water on water borne disease outbreak.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- What are the various sources of water?
- What are water borne diseases?
- What is role of sources of water on water borne disease outbreak?
1.6 Significance of Study
The research gives a clear insight into the Comparative Analysis of Sources of Water and Water Borne Diseases. It also gives a clear insight into the role of water sources in water borne diseases. This research also serves as a preliminary study in identifying the common microorganisms in different water sources that may be responsible for water borne diseases.
1.7 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Comparative Analysis of Sources of Water and Water Borne Diseases in Nigeria.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
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