Water Pollution, Odor, and Your Health

                   WATER POLLUTION, ODOR AND YOUR HEALTH
      Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) (smells like rotten eggs) and The Bacteria Which Produce H2S in
                              Sewage Sludge Biosolids, Reclaimed Water and Drinking Water

Jim Bynum                                                                                                                                        2/2/2008
Retired Safety Consultant
ASME Certified -- Hydrogen Sulfide Safety

                        Abstract: There are over 220 low temperature E. coli Strains of H2S gas producing bacteria and
                                                      270 E. coli strains that carry the necrotizing (flesh eating) infection factors, yet, EPA
                                                     and the World Health Organization (WHO) use a high temperature E. coli strain (fecal
                                                     coliform) to assure us sewage sludge, reclaimed water and drinking water are safe.
                                                     In evaluation the potential of using the H2S test for water safety, WHO found that
                                                     in the past 25 years many soil, plant and water bacteria have mutated picking up the
                                                     H2S and necrotizing factor genes. Many of the mutated bacteria (76 are reviewed in
                                                     this paper) are now human necrotizing pathogens through air, reclaimed water, drinking
                                                     water and food supply.   Moreover,scientists document H2S building up in the atmosphere
                                                     and claim they don't know what the poisonous H2S gas will do to public health in low doses.

During the 1970s over 70 billion dollars was allocated to build sewage wastewater treatment plants to prevent water
pollution and protect your health based on the best science available at the time. However, the science was not very
good at the time. It would appear the wastewater regulators and industry knew little about the deadly bacteria and
had no equipment or methods available to actually destroy the pathogenic bacteria during the treatment process. As
a result, EPA and the World Health Organization chose the fecal coliform test to assure the public sludge biosolids
used as a fertilizer and drinking water was safe. This was pseudoscience, since a high temperature thermotolerant
strain of E. coli that only grows at 112 degrees Fahrenheit was chosen as the prime indicator organism of fecal
contamination. A further indication that this was pseudoscience is that the EPA approved fecal coliform test
deliberately suppressed the pathogenic animal bacteria Aeromonas. Aeromonas now produces H2S gas as well as
necrotizing fasciitis and myonecrosis infections in humans. This is one of the so called "flesh eating" necrotizing
bacteria. Not only that, but the test does not reveal the 200 mutant strains of E. coli that produce H2S gas or the
270 cytotoxic necrotizing factor strains belonged to 22 different O serogroups; This pseudoscience has led to ground
water pollution, surface water pollution and destroyed large sections of the ocean environment as well as destroying
human health where sludge biosolids and sewage water are "beneficially" reclaimed for use. Necrotizing ulcerative
gingivitis showing up in the dentist office and the 25 million young girls and women infected with the papillomas virus
is an indication drinking water treatment plants are not removing these slow growing mutated H2S producing bacteria
and other pathogens.

Hydrogen sulfide gas produce by many pathogenic bacteria smells like rotten eggs and is second only to hydrogen
cyanide in toxicity. In 1972, FDA's A. P. PADRON noted pathogenic coliform bacteria producing H2S was not a new
phenomenon. He said, "As early as 1877, Gayon (5) referred to the production of hydrogen sulfide by microbes in
spoiled chicken eggs and described the use of paper strips impregnated with lead acetate for detecting the presence
of this gaseous byproduct. Some years later, Beijerinck (1), Schardinger (12), and Durham (3) described the
production of H2S by putrefactive organisms associated with soil and feces. The latter two laid the foundation for
sanitary standards for water supplies and described the use of H2S production for detection of Salmonella and other
putrefactive organisms."

Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) deaths associated with sewage have been a fact of life since Cities started building sewer
lines in the 1800s. While newspapers from the 1800s reported deaths, one scientific theory was the deaths were
caused by dead air. By the 1990s, the sewage industry and oil field industry were aware that high levels of H2S
could kill instantly in confined spaces as well as open spaces when large amounts of the gas was released from oil
and gas drilling operations. However, little was known about long term exposure to small levels of the gas.
The wastewater industry has ignored the research done on the bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes that actually
produced H2S in the environment, even though it is known that the gene which cause production of H2S can be
transferred from one bacteria species to another. Salmonella is an example of a bacteria species where most strains
have picked up the H2S producing gene. Yet, EPA promotes the dumping of H2S producing bacteria contaminated
sludge without any safety warning to farmers, or the public, knowing these slow growing bacteria are deadly when
released into the environment.

As an Agency of scientists, EPA has been aware that gene swapping occurs in the sewage treatment plants since
1951, when Dr. Esther Lederberg of the University of Wisconsin discovered the lambda phage, a virus that infects
other bacteria with the ability to transfer genes among them. The wastewater treatment plant is the prime transfer
point for antibiotic resistant and H2S producing genes between bacteria. Therefore, it would appear that EPA based
its sludge dumping policy, reclaimed water policy and public relations programs to promote the policies on the
premise that farmers and the public would never discover that sludge or reclaimed water was contaminated with
mutant H2S gas producing bacteria or that deadly Amines caused odors. nor, that the same treatment plants create
antibiotic resistant bacteria such MRSA and about 70 other bacteria that cause necrotizing infections (flesh
eating bacterai).

Today, the government and industry's 's position is that it has very little information available and will do
the research at some future date, but, there is no cause to worry -- , that's not true, and there is cause
to worry about the current pandemics around the world. Not only that, but so many soil, plant, water and
animal bacteria have picked up the poisonous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) producing gene that some
scientists at the World Health Organization (WHO) have considered using the H2S test for evaluating the
safety of drinking water in document WHO/SDE/WSH/02.08. However, according to WHO, information
about the H2S producing bacteria developed by Mark D. Sobsey and Frederic K. Pfaender, School of
Public Health, University of North Carolina is super secret. WHO states, "This document is not issued to
the general public and all rights are reserved by the World Health Organization. The document may not
be reviewed, abstracted, quoted, reproduced or translated, in part or in whole, without the prior written
permission of WHO. No part of this document may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means - electronic, mechanical or other without the prior written permission of WHO." It
would appear that WHO doesn't want this information to get out and create a panic. There is no
indication in the document that E. coli is an H2S-producing bacteria. Yet, a 1974 study noted there were
200 H2S-positive variants of E. coli at that time.

The report states, "A preliminary study conducted in the laboratory of one of us (Mark Sobsey) showed
that a standard, commercially available H2S test detects sulfate-reducing bacteria of non-fecal origin in
25% of the samples tested. Because of these deficiencies, it is not possible to widely and unequivocally
recommend H2S tests for the determination of fecal contamination in drinking water. There remain
too many uncertainties about the reliability, specificity and sensitivity of the test for detecting fecal
contamination of drinking water and its sources." It is unlikely any drinking water would pass test as
some H2S producing bacteria take two weeks to show up in cultures. Studies also show that many non-
fecal origin bacteria are now killers, including the coliform group and Heterotrophic group bacteria. In
effect, we can not be assured that the best water treatment processes work as H2S producing bacteria
do corrode water pipes and hot water heaters.

Now CDC claims, "Very little information is available about health problems that could occur from drinking or eating
something with hydrogen sulfide in it. While scientists have no reports of people poisoned by such exposures, pigs
that ate feed containing hydrogen sulfide experienced diarrhea for a few days and lost weight after about 105 days."
We have to remember EPA claims scientists have no reports of people harmed by sludge biosolids, but that is not
true as studies by EPA's David Lewis has shown.

Children are especially at risk according to CDC, "Children are likely to be exposed to hydrogen sulfide in the same
manner as adults, except for adults at work. However, because hydrogen sulfide is heavier than air and because
children are shorter than adults, children sometimes are exposed to more hydrogen sulfide than adults. There is very
little information on possible health problems in children who have been exposed to hydrogen sulfide. Exposed
children probably will experience effects similar to those experienced by exposed adults. Whether children are more
sensitive to hydrogen sulfide exposure than adults or whether hydrogen sulfide causes birth defects in people is not
known."
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs114.html#bookmark06

Actually, CDC does know that "bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes release hydrogen sulfide during the decomposition
of sulfur-containing proteins and by the direct reduction of sulfate (SO42-)." "Ambient air concentrations of hydrogen
sulfide from natural sources range between 0.11 and 0.33 ppb. Concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in urban areas
are generally <1 ppb. Much higher levels (often exceeding 90 ppb) have been detected in communities living near
natural sources of hydrogen sulfide or near industries releasing hydrogen sulfide." Spreading spreading sludge
biosolids contaminated with these H2S gas producing bacteria in the environment will lead to higher levels of H2S
gas in our air. Due to ambient air concentrations of H2S gas in combination with the toxic ambient air concentrations
of Amines and Acetonitrile (which create hydrogen cyanide in the lungs), we may not have to worry about global
warming which increases bacterial activity.

Not only that, but "Exposure to lower concentrations of hydrogen sulfide can result in less severe neurological and
respiratory effects. Reported neurological effects include incoordination, poor memory, hallucinations,
personality changes, and anosmia (loss of sense of smell); the respiratory effects include nasal symptoms,
sore throat, cough, and dyspnea. Impaired lung function has also been observed in asthmatics acutely exposed to 2
ppm hydrogen sulfide; no alterations in lung function were observed in studies of nonasthmatic workers."

And it gets worse, "Exposure to hydrogen sulfide can also result in neurobehavioral effects in humans and animals.
Alterations in balance, reaction time, visual field, and verbal recall were observed in individuals exposed
to high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide for an acute duration and in individuals exposed to lower
levels of hydrogen sulfide for a chronic duration; no monitoring data were provided."
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp114-c2.pdf

Since EPA does not test for these pathogenic H2S producers, even your drinking water may not be safe. Many
pathogenic H2S producers are very slow growing, yet EPA's test is for a fast growing strain of E. coli that grows at
high temperature. You should be aware that "Hydrogen sulfide gas in water can cause black stains on silverware
and plumbing fixtures. It can also corrode pipes and other metal components of the water distribution system.
Bacterial slime [biofilm] may be white, grey, black, or reddish brown if associated with iron bacteria.The slime can
clog wells, plumbing, and irrigation systems."
http://www.co.carver.mn.us/departments/LWS/env-svc/HydrogenSulfide.asp

Many personal safety gas detectors are set to alarm at 10 PPM and to go into high alarm at 15 PPM (Utility,

sewage

& petrochemical workers).

An interesting diagnostic clue of extreme poisoning by H2S is the discoloration of copper coins in the pockets

of the

victim. Treatment involves immediate inhalation of amyl nitrite, injections of sodium nitrite, inhalation of

pure oxygen,

administration of bronchodilators to overcome eventual bronchospasm, and in some cases

hyperbaric oxygen

therapy.

Exposure to lower concentrations can result in eye irritation, a sore throat and cough, nausea, shortness of

breath,

and fluid in the lungs. These symptoms usually go away in a few weeks. Long-term, low-level exposure

may result in

fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches, irritability, poor memory, and dizziness. Chronic exposures

to low level H2S

(around 2 ppm) has been implicated in increased miscarriage and reproductive health issues

amongst Russian and

Finnish wood pulp workers, but the reports hadn't (as of circa 1995) been replicated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_sulfide#Function_in_the_body

(H2S) Poisonous Gas Producing Bacteria
In the last 30 years many of the bacteria have picked up the necessary genes through wastewater treatment plants
to: 1) produce H2S gas; 2) become human pathogens; 3) become resistant to many antibiotics; and 4) create
necrotizing infection. While most have been implicated in human necrotizing infections, some have yet to be
documented in published studies. Others have been documented in animal studies but have not jumped to humans--
yet.

Click on highlighted bacteria links for more information on human infections.
Bold words indicate normal habitat as well as pathogenic potential according to WHO Study. If we accept
the Study at face value, as you will notice, many of the bacteria have become H2S producing pathogens
to humans with deadly effect since the original Study was completed in 2002. What is most disturbing is
that new deadly pathogens are showing up as dental infections as well as the carcinogenic pappillomas
virus infections in children indicating that infection is through drinking water.

Federal, state and the waste Industry claim they have used sound science in promoting the use of sludge biosolids
and sewage effluent on our food crops, lawns, parks and school grounds. Federal and state health departments
responsible for tracking infectious organisms that threaten public health have refused to do their job and in some
cases actively promoted the spreading of these deadly disease organisms in sludge biosolids and reclaimed sewage
water.

The federal and state regulators promoting the use of sludge biosolids as a fertilizer and the reuse of sewage
effluent as reclaimed water have been knowingly using pseudoscience. They can no longer ignore the fact that they
have promoted the pollution of our ground water, surface water and oceans from agricultural runoff where sludge
has been dumped and sewage treatment plants can not properly treat sewage. Yet, they now promote contaminated
sewage effluent as reclaimed water with no concern for public health or the economic disaster this has and will
cause..

Knowingly using the pseudoscientific fecal coliform test to promote sludge use on agricultural land and
promote sewage effluent as reclaimed water is a criminal act against nature and humanity. This is a
politically approved disaster and must be addressed through political action. You have to get involved
to protect you children and grand children.

1.   Spurious Hydrogen Sulfide Production by Providencia and Escherichia coli Species, BEATRICE E. TRELEAVEN,*
ALPHA A. DIALLO, AND EARL C. RENSHAW, JR., Bureau of Disease Control and Laboratory Services, Division
of Microbiology, Michigan Department of Public Health, Lansing, Michigan 48909
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY, June 1980, p. 750-752

2.   Hydrogen Sulfide Production and Fermentative Gas Production by Salmonella typhimurium Require F0F1 ATP
Synthase Activity, KYLE C. SASAHARA, NINA K. HEINZINGER,† AND ERICKA L. BARRETT* Department of Food
Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, California 95616-8598
JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, Nov. 1997, p. 6736-6740

3.   Two-Tube Test for the Rapid Identification of Prompt Lactose-Fermenting Genera Within the Family
Enterobacteriaceae, 0. CLOSS, Department of Microbiology, The Haukeland Hospital, The Gade Institute,
Bergeni, Norway.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Sept. 1971, p. 325-328

4.   Minibioreactor-gas collector for determining bacteria-produced hydrogen sulfide, Armando Hernández García*,
Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología de Camagüey, Electronic Journal of Biotechnology ISSN: 0717
-3458,   Vol. 6 No. 3, Issue of December 15, 2003, Universidad Católica de Valparaíso -- Chile,

5.   Leminorella, a new genus of Enterobacteriaceae: identification of Leminorella grimontii sp. nov. and Leminorella
richardii sp. nov. found in clinical specimens., F W Hickman-Brenner, M P Vohra, G P Huntley-Carter,
G R Fanning, V A Lowery, 3rd, D J Brenner, and J J Farmer, 3rd.
J Clin Microbiol. 1985 February; 21(2): 234-239.

6. Hydrogen sulfide-producing bacteria in tongue biofilm and their relationship with oral malodour ,
Jumpei Washio1,2, Takuichi Sato2, Takeyoshi Koseki1 and Nobuhiro Takahashi2, 1,2 Division of Preventive
Dentistry1, and Division of Oral Ecology and Biochemistry2, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, 4-1
Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan,
J Med Microbiol 54 (2005), 889-895

7.   Tetrathionate Reduction and Production of Hydrogen Sulfide, from Thiosulfate, ERICKA L. BARRETT*
AND MARTA A. CLARK, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, California
MICROBIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, June 1987, p. 192-205

8.   Medium for the Presumptive Identification of Aeromonas hydrophila and Enterobacteriaceae,
J. KAPER, RAMON J. SEIDLER,t H. LOCKMAN, AND R. R. COLWELL*, Department ofMicrobiology, University
of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Nov. 1979, p. 1023-1026

9.   Relative Incidence of Alteromonas putrefaciens and Pseudomonas putrefaciens in Ground Beef, †
Louise L. Parker and R. E. Levin, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Massachusetts Agricultural
Experiment Station, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
Appl Environ Microbiol. 1983 March; 45(3): 796-799.

10. The Nature of Sulfide Compounds and Their Formation: Desulfovibrio, Bioquatic™ Supply Corp.
http://www.bioquaticsupply.com/html/hydrotut3.htm
More - http://thewatchers.us/2-1-Desulfovibrio.html

11. Pseudomonas putrefaciens as a cause of infection in humans, J Debois, H Degreef, J Vandepitte, and
J Spaepen, J Clin Pathol. 1975 December; 28(12): 993-996
More - http://thewatchers.us/2-1-Pseudomonas.html

12. Brucella suis: an Unusual Cause of Suppurative Lymphadenitis in an Outpatient, HARRIETTE NADLER,'*
COLLEEN DOLAN,' PIERRE FORGACS,2 AND HARVEY GEORGE' Department of Clinical Laboratories' and
Section of Infectious Diseases,2 Lahey Clinic Medical Center, Burlington, Massachusetts 01805
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY, Sept. 1982, p. 575-576

13.   Thermotolerant Campylobacter with no or weak catalase activity isolated, Karin Sandstedt1   , Jan Ursing and
Mats Walder2, (1) Department of Bacteriology, National Veterinary Institute, Ultuna, S-750 07 Uppsala,
Sweden, (2) Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Lund, Malmö General Hospital, S-214 01 Malmö,
Sweden,
Current Microbiology, Volume 8, Number 4 / July, 1983 , Springer New York

14. ANAEROBIC BACILLI, Medical Microbiology, Mary Johnson, Ph.D,   IU School of Medicine, J621,
http://web.indstate.edu/thcme/micro/anaerlec.html

15. Production of Hydrogen Sulfide by Streptomycetes and Methods for its Detection, E. KtUSTER AND
S. T. WILLIAMS', Department of Industrial Microbiology, University College, Dublin, Ireland
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 46-52, January, 1964

16. Cultural Characteristics and Fatty Acid Composition of Corynebacterium, acnes, C. WAYNE MOSS,
V. R. DOWELL, JR., V. J. LEWIS, AND M. A. SCHEKTER, National Communicable Disease Ceziter, Public Health
Service, Atlanta, Georgia 30333
JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, Nov. 1967, P. 1300-1305

17. Genetic and Molecular Characterization of an Escherichia coli Plasmid Coding for Hydrogen Sulfide
Production and Drug Resistance, RANDALL T. JONES,`* LE P. THAI,' AND RICHARD P. SILVER2,
Department of Microbiology, Texas Tech University, School of Medicine, Lubbock, Texas 79430,' and Food and
Drug Administration, Bureau of Biologics, Bethesda, Maryland 200142
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS AND CHEMOTHERAPY, Nov. 1978, p. 765-770

18.   Desulfuration of Cysteine and Methionine by Fusobacterium nucleatum, R. PIANOTTI, S. LACHEITE, and
S. DILLS, Department of Biological Research, Consumer Products Research and Development Division,
Warner-Lambert Company, Morris Plains, New Jersey 07950
J Dent Res 65(6):913-917, June, 1986

19.   Isolation and Identification of Haemophilus ducreyi in a Clinical Study, F. O. SOTTNEK,* J. W. BIDDLE,
S. J. KRAUS, R. E. WEAVER, AND J. A. STEWART, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY, Aug. 1980, P. 170-174

20.   Helicobacter hepaticus ATCC51449, A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Helicobacter hepaticus
ATCC51449 http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Helicobacter_hepaticus

21.   Nutrient and environmental growth factors for eight small-sized oral spirochetes NILS-ERIK FIEHN1,
1Departments of Microbiology and Periodontology Royal Dental College, Copenhagen, Denmark AND JYTTE
WESTERGAARD11Departments of Microbiology and Periodontology Royal Dental College, Copenhagen,
Denmark1Departments of Microbiology and Periodontology Royal Dental College, Copenhagen, Denmark
European Journal of Oral Sciences, Volume 94 Issue 3 Page 208-218, June 1986

22.   GLYCOPEPTIDE ANTIBIOTICS A82846 FROM NOCARDIA ORIENTALIS,
http://www.wikipatents.com/ca/1339033.html

23.   Atypical Pasteurella haemolytica Type A from Poultry , P. B. Addo, K. Mohan,
Avian Diseases, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1985), pp. 214-217

24.   Characteristics of Pasteurella multocida of Human Origin, K. L. HEDDLESTON* AND GERALDINE WESSMAN,
National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY, Apr. 1975, p. 377-383

25. Evaluation of the H2S Method for Detection of Fecal Contamination of Drinking Water, Mark D. Sobsey and
Frederic K. Pfaender, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
WHO/SDE/WSH/02.08

26. Selective Medium for Hydrogen Sulfide Production by Salmonellae, A. P. PADRON AND
W. B. DOCKSTADER,        Division of Microbiology, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, D.C.
APPLIED MICROMOLOGY, June 1972, p. 1107-1112

27 BACILLI OF THE HOG-CHOLERA GROUP (BACILLUS CHOLERiE SUIS) IN MAN., CARL TENBROECK, M.D.
(From the Department of Animal Pathology of The Rockefeller lnstitute for Medical Research, Princeton, N, Y.)
http://www.jem.org/cgi/reprint/32/1/33.pdf

Name	Common Source (25) or Habitat -- WHO list	Pathogens (25) WHO list	Human pathogen infection examples
Actinobacillus (25	Animal membranes and tissues	Animal pathogens	meningitis complicating otitis, mastoiditis, sepsis, endocarditis, Necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis	1
Actinomyces (6) (25 )	Soil, water	Both man and animals	(tongue biofilm), actinomycosis, intraperitoneal & lung abscesses, necrotizing placentitis, Necrotizing pneumonia	2
Actinoplanes (25)	Plants, soil, animal skin	None reported		3
Agrobacterium (25)	Soil, plant tissues	Plant saprophytes and pathogens	bacteremia, sepsis and monoarticular arthritis	4
Aeromonas (8) (9) (25)	Animals	Possible	Bacteraemia, wound infections, Myonecrosis and ecthyma, cutaneous necrotic or gangrenous pustule, necrotizing fasciitis and myonecrosis	5
Alysiella (25)	Mammal oral saprophytes	None reported		6
Arachnia (7) (25)	Soil, humans, animals	Some	abscesses, eye infections, blood and the urinary tract	7
Azotobacter (7)				8

Name	Common Source (25) or Habitat -- WHO list	Pathogens (25) WHO list	Human pathogen infection examples
Bacillus (27) (7)			anthrax, vomiting and diarrhea, Necrotizing Gastritis, and cellulitis, infection of the meninges	9
Bacterionema (7)			oral cavity	10
(Bacteroides) (7) (25)	Intestinal, oral cavity animals	Rumen bacteria unlikely	fatal abscesses and bacteremias, Necrotizing Fasciitis	11

(Brucella (7) (12) (25)	Animal bodies	Many human and animal	blood poisong, infectious arthritis, necrotizing orchitis	12
Budvicia (7)			blood and urine infections	13
Butyrivibrio (25)	Rumen	None reported	gastrointestinal tract	14
Campylobactere (7) (13) (25)	Man and animals	Several	diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, meningitis, pneumonia, miscarriage, and a severe form of Guillain-Barré syndrome, bacteremia, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, or septic arthritis, necrotizing colitis	15
Cardiobacterium (25)	Human nose and throat	Possible	invasive and pathogenic, endocarditis, periodontal diseases	16
Citrobacter, (1) (25) (coliform)	Water, food, animal feces, urine	None reported	diarrhea, urinary tract infection, infant meningitis, necrotizing meningo-encephalitis	17
Clostridium, (7) (14) (25)	Soil, water, sediment	Some	gas gangrene, botulism, enterocolitis, enteritis, tetanus, necrosis [death] of tissue	18
Corynebacterium (16)			granulomatous lymphadenitis, pneumonitis, pharyngitis, skin infections, and endocarditis, diphtheria, necrotizing lymphadenitis, Necrotizing tracheitis	19

Name	Common Source (25) or Habitat -- WHO list	Pathogens (25) WHO list	Human pathogen infection examples
Dactylosporangium (25)	Soil	None reported		20
Desulfovibrio (10) (25)	Soil, water, sediment	None reported	digestive tract of both man and animals, ulcerative colitis, bacteremia, Brain Abscess	21
Desulfomonas (25)	Human intestinal tract	None reported		22
Desulfobacter (25)	Soil, water, sediment			23
Desulfococcus (25)	Soil, water, sediment	None reported		24
Desulfotomaculum (25)	Soil, water	None reported		25
Desulfuromonas (25)	Soil, water, sediment			25
Desulfosarcina (25)	Soil, water, sediment			26

Name	Common Source (25) or Habitat -- WHO list	Pathogens (25) WHO list	Human pathogen infection examples
Edwardsiella, (1) (25) (coliform)	Water, human & animal intestines	Possible	diarrhea, gastroenteritis, wound infections, necrotizing fasciitis, Myonecrosis	27
Erwinia (25)	Plant	Plant pathogens	epidemic of septicemia, bacteremia, urinary tract infection	28
Enterobacter, (3) (coliform)			hospital infections, urinary tract and respiratory tract infections, meningitis, sepis, and necrotizing entercolitis	29
Escherichia coli (1) (2) (17) 200 H2S-positive variants of E. coli (coliform) (fecal coliform) all strains produce infection when they invade sterile tissues			diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, kidney failure, liver, urinary tract, skin and pulmonary infections,necrotizing pneumonia bacteremia, blood poisoning, meningitis, Neonatal Sepsis, abscesses, 270 cytotoxic necrotizing factor strains belonged to 22 different O serogroups;	30
Erysipelothrix (25)	Soil, water, fish, animals	Some	Multiple Brain Infarctions, Chronic meningitis, Systemic bloodstream infection, arthritis in the joints of the fingers, endocarditis, Necrotizing Fasciitis	31
Eubacterium (1) (25)	Cavities of man and animals	Some	cavities, soft tissue infections, endocarditis, wound infections	32
Flavobacterium (25)	Water	Rodent pathogen	neonatal meningitis, Bacteremia, necrotizing fasciitis	33
Flexibacteria (25)	Water, soil	None reported		34
F rancisella (7) (25)	Water	Human and animal parasites	Pneumonic tularemia, bacteremia, peritonitis, adenitis and lung nodules, Pneumonia, fever	35
Fusobacterium (18) (25)	Animal mucus membranes	Several	oral cavity and pleuropulminary infections, abscesses of the liver, lungs, and other tissues and in chronic ulcer of the colon. -- purulent or gangrenous infections.	36

Name	Common Source or Habitat -- WHO list	Pathogens (25) WHO list	Human pathogen examples
Haemophilus (19)			acute contagious conjunctivitis, chancroid, influenza, lethal meningitis in infants, vaginitis, blood and central nervous system infection, bacteremia, meningitis, pneumonia, otitis media, cellulitis, and epiglottitis, septic arthritis, endocarditis, brain abscess	37
Halobacterium (7) (25)	Water	None reported	limitations in our ability to detect, identify, and isolate these microorganisms	38
Halococcus (7) (25)	Water	None reported		39
Helicobacter (20)			proctitis and colitis, septicemia in neonates, gastritis and pyloric ulcers, gastric carcinogenesis	40
Hypomicrobium (25)	Soil, water	None reported		41
Kingella (7)			Osteoarticular Infections in Young Children, respiratory tract, skeletal infections, endocarditis, bacteremia, pneumonia, epiglottitis, meningitis, abscesses, and ocular infections.	42
Klebsiella (3) (25) (coliform)	Widely distributed	Unlikely	urinary tract infection, necrotizing fasciitis, pneumonia	43
(Lactobacillus (7)			See Megasphaera	44
Leminorella (5) (coliform)			urinary tract infection, bronchitis, soft tissue infection, primary bacteremia and secondary peritonitis	45
Leptospira (21)			leptospirosis, lymphocytic meningitis, hepatitis, and nephritis	46

Name	Common Source (25) or Habitat -- WHO list	Pathogens (25) WHO list	Human pathogen examples
Megasphaera (25)	Rumen, sheep intestine	None reported	Bacterial vaginosis - preterm birth	47
Mycoplasma (25)	Parasites of man	Several	pneumonia, severe hemolysis, neonatal diseases, autoimmune neuropathies	48
NOCARDIA (22)			brain abscesses, mycetoma, pneumonia, and glomerulonephritis, soft tissue involvement, mycetoma, CNS nocardiosis	49
Neisseria (7) (25)	Animals- many tissues	Many	gonorrhea, meningitis, Necrotizing fasciitis, necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis, Fatal Acute Cellulitis, complement deficiency	50
Pasteurella (23) (24) (25)	Animals	Many animal pathogens	hemorrhagic septicemias, cellulitis, arthritis, Necrotizing fasciitis, bacteremia	51
Peptococcus (25)	Animals- mostly humans	Possible	osteochondrosis, ischemic necrosis of bone, spinal infection, endocarditis, acute pelvic inflammatory disease	52
Peptostreptococcus (25)	Animal respiratory and UG tract	Several	septicemic, brain, liver, breast, and lung abscesses, as well as bones, joints and necrotizing soft tissue infection	53
Planobispora (25)	Soil	None reported		52
Prevotella (6)			(tongue biofilm), endometritis, osteitis, or periodontic lesions, pericoronitis, hematogenous infection, vertebral osteomyelitis	53
Propionibacterium. (16)			acne, chronic blepharitis and endophthalmitis, corneal ulcers, endocarditis, septic arthritis, abscesses, pneumonia, necrotizing suppurative acute and chronic bronchitis	54
Proteus. (1) (25) (coliform)	Soil, water, animal feces	Possible, none reported	diarrhea of infants, cystitis, urinary tract infections, hospital-acquired infections	55
Pseudomonas (7) (11)			lungs, urinary tract infections, sepsis, pneumonia, pharyngitis, gangrene, and necrosis,	56
(Rhizobium (7)			bacteraemia,	57
Rhodospirillum (25)	Water- strict anaerobic	None reported		58
Rothia (7) (25)	Soil, animals	None reported	peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis, dental caries and periodontal disease, endocarditis,	59

Name	Common Source (25 or Habitat -- WHO list	Pathogens (25) WHO list	Human pathogen examples
Salmonella (2) (25)	Water, food, animals	Many pathogens	Gastroenteritis, enteric fever, arterial infections, endocarditis, pneumonia, empyema, urinary tract infections, meningitis, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, hepatobiliary system, soft tissue abscesses, Necrotizing fasciitis, etc	60
Selenomonas (25)	Animal intestines	None reported	speticemia, lung abscess, bacteremia,	61
Simonsiella (25)	Mammal oral saprophytes	None reported	neonate dental cyst, erosive lesions of the oral cavity	62
Shigella (1) (coliform)			diarrhea, sores, seizures, eye inflammation and reactive arthritis (Reiter's syndrome), intestinal perforation may occur	63
Spirillum (25)	Fresh and salt water	None reported	gastric infection, rat-bite fever, syphilis, yaws, and relapsing fever	64
Staphylococcus (25)	Human skin, membranes, air, dust	Many	methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), skin and soft tissue infections, enterotoxin food poisoning, toxic shock syndrome, septicaemia, genitourinary tract infections, pneumonia, meningitis, boils, arthritis, and osteomyelitis, Necrotizing fasciitis	65
Streptobacillus (25)	Mammal intestines	Animal parasites and pathogens	rat-bite fever, reactive arthritides, pyogenic infection of the joints, endocarditis, pneumonia, metastatic abscesses	66
Streptococcus (6)			(tongue biofilm), endocarditis, skin, throat infections, rheumatic fever, glomerulonephritis, reactive arthritis, septicemia, toxic shock syndrome, meningitis, pneumonia, endocarditis, erysipelas, otitis media, dental caries, bacteremia, appendicitis, urogenital infections, necrotizing fasciiti,	67
Streptomycetes (15)			bacteremia, necrotic tissue, Pneumonia, bacteremia	68
Streptoverticillium (25)	Soil- antibiotic producers	None reported		69

Name	Common Source (25) or Habitat -- WHO list	Pathogens (25) WHO list	Human pathogen examples
Treponema (25)	Animals	Several	Syphilis, yaws, and pinta, Lyme disease, relapsing fever, leptospirosis, can cross the placenta and infect the unborn child, necrotizing ulcerative gingiviti	70
Thermomonospora (25)	Soil, animal wastes	None reported	respiratory allergens, Farmers Lung Disease and Mushroom Workers Lung Disease, which are forms of extrinsic allergic alveolitis (in compost)	71
Tsukamurella (4)			bacteremia, conjunctivitis, Sepsis, Cavitary pneumonia	72
Veillonella (6) (25)	Mouth, intestinal track of animals	Possible	(tongue biofilm), osteomyelitis, bacteremia, sinuses, lungs, liver, central nervous system, heart, and bone, parvula lumbar discitis, joint infection, endocarditis,	73
Yersinia (25)	Human and animal intestines	Yes	diarrheal entercolitica, abscess of the lung,hepatic and splenic, pseudoappendicitis syndrome, leukocytosis, pharyngitis, meningitis, osteomyelitis, pyomyositis, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, acute proliferative glomerulonephritis, peritonitis, and primary cutaneous, necrotlzlng enterocolitis, necrotizing pneumonia, mesenteric lymphadenitis, Reiter's syndrome, bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic plagues	74
Xanthomonas (25)	Soil, water	Plant pathogens	nosocomial and community-acquired infections., respiratory and haemodialysed infections, peritonitis, Septicemia,	75
Zymomonas (7) (25)	Beer, fermenting fruit	None reported	bacteraemia and septicemia,	76