Recreational pools filled with mineralized thermal water are potential reservoirs of pathogenic Vibrio spp.

Abstract

Vibrio spp. are Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria commonly present in marine, estuarine and natural freshwater environments. A few members of this genus are associated with human diseases. Here we present the study of Vibrio spp. isolations from 20 artificial recreational pools in Slovakia. Water samples were collected from artificial pools filled with mineralized thermal water in eight recreational areas in Slovakia in 2019 and 2020. Ninety six out of 176 samples were positive for Vibrio spp. Totally 118 different strains of Vibrio spp. were isolated, from which 77 belonged to potentially pathogenic species - V. cholerae (34 isolates), V. vulnificus (4 isolates), V. furnissii (3 isolates), V. fluvialis (25 isolates), V. alginolyticus (10 isolates) and V. mimicus (1 isolate). To our knowledge this is the first study demonstrating the presence of pathogenic or potentially pathogenic Vibrio spp. in artificial pools filled with thermal mineralized waters even disinfected with chlorine compounds.