Microbial Contamination of Rubber Ducks Floating in Bathtubs of Bathing Facilities, and an Evaluation of Their Washing Methods

Microbiological contamination inside rubber ducks floating in the bathtub at a "duck bath" of a bathing facility was analyzed by examining bacterial and amoebic counts. The results of microbial tests, such as standard plate count, heterotrophic plate count and Legionella-LAMP (Loopmediated...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biocontrol Science 2021, Vol.26(4), pp.187-192
Main Authors: EDAGAWA, AKIKO, MATSUDA, NORIHIRO, OGURA, TORU, UEZONO, KENICHI, IZUMIYAMA, SHINJI, FUJII, AKIRA
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Free-living amoebae
Legionella species
Microbial contamination
Rubber ducks
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Microbiological contamination inside rubber ducks floating in the bathtub at a "duck bath" of a bathing facility was analyzed by examining bacterial and amoebic counts. The results of microbial tests, such as standard plate count, heterotrophic plate count and Legionella-LAMP (Loopmediated isothermal amplification) , showed that microbial contamination increased in the rubber ducks over time. When the ducks were washed with sodium hypochlorite, those microbial contaminations were not detected; but when the ducks were washed with an electrolyzed water, the standard plate counts and the heterotrophic plate counts were detected in the amount of 103 per duck in the wipe samples. Without proper washing of rubber ducks, bacteria and free-living amoeba can grow and colonize biofilms, and can thereby cause infection in humans. Also, microbial contamination inside ducks may reduce chlorination of the entire bathtub and cause bacterial infection such as Legionellosis from the bathtub water.
ISSN:1342-4815
1884-0205
DOI:10.4265/bio.26.187