River Cam swimmers and rowers can now reduce risk of waterborne infections - In Your Area

Pictured above are Rowers on the River Cam in 2016. (Credit: David Johnson Photographic)

Fewer waterborne infections could be caught by those playing freshwater sports after researchers managed to identify what bacteria are present in the River Cam.

The University of Cambridge researchers used a portable genome sequencing devices to identify harmful bacteria lurking in the river.

The study, published on Tuesday, found that this can be used to quickly spot bacteria that are harmful to humans, helping swimmers and rowers in the river reduce their risk of catching waterborne diseases.

The River Cam is a hotspot for swimmers, rowers and kayakers - many of who develop waterborne infections caused by the bacteria found in the river.

Researchers from the university and the Cambridge-based European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) used a smartphone-sized DNA sequencing device to monitor water samples taken from nine locations on the river.

"We set out with the aim of characterising the diversity of microbes in the river," said Lara Urban, a former PhD student at EBI who worked on the study.

"We also wanted to see how viable it was to use portable DNA sequencers to monitor bacteria species in rivers. With the river Cam on our doorstep, it wasn't long before we were out collecting samples."

Researchers Maximillian Stammnitz, Lara Urban, and Andre Holzer. (Credit: University of Cambridge).

The researchers found that amount of potentially harmful and wastewater-related bacteria strongly increased downstream of the most urbanised river sections.

One example is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that can cause disease in plants and animals, including humans, varying from pneumonia to sepsis.

It also identified Leptospira bacterium, which can cause the life-threatening disease leptospirosis. However, the researchers said that the species found on this occasion were most likely not pathogenic.

Traditional microbial tests focus on the isolation of specific bacterial organisms in a laboratory, which is time consuming and reliant on specialised infrastructure and staff.

By contrast, the techniques used in this study identified the DNA of the many bacteria present in a sample of river water. In recent years, devices for mobile DNA analysis have made this work more accessible, allowing real-time sequencing.

Andre Holzer, a Cambridge PhD student, said: "This study design has allowed us to provide real transparency on important local questions of public health, with a very exciting new technology.

"We believe this method could be useful for public health, local authorities, and researchers studying waterborne diseases around the world."

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