Antibiotic-resistant fecal bacteria found in Manitoba First Nation drinking water

Bacteria found in First Nation's water supply Jon Hendricks on antibiotic resistant bacteria found in a First Nation’s water supply.

Dangerously high levels of antibiotic-resistant fecal bacteria have been found in the drinking water of a Manitoba First Nation community.

Dr. Ayush Kumar, a microbiologist from the University of Manitoba, says he recently tested the water in homes in an unnamed Manitoba community and found the bacteria in every one.

“Every single house we tested, regardless of whether the water came from tap, from bucket, or from cistern, had fecal bacteria in them," Kumar told CTV Winnipeg.

The testing found 10,000 colony-forming units of fecal bacteria per 100 millilitres in the samples, including E. coli bacteria. Health Canada’s maximum acceptable concentration of coliforms in water is zero.

Worryingly, Kumar says that some of the bacteria they found were antibiotic resistant, which means that drinking the water increases the risk of hard-to-treat stomach infections, while bathing in the water risks skin infections.

"This is potentially putting the health of individuals living in this whole community at grave risk," said Dr. Kumar.

Kumar has already warned the community about his findings, which could lead to a boil-water advisory.

The full findings are being published in the Journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

The findings were also presented this week at the University of Manitoba’s third annual First Nation Water Rights Conference.

Kumar noted that the community has a water treatment plant and that samples taken there all tested clean. That means the contamination must be occurring somewhere after the water leaves the plant.

He added that finding were important given that there are currently 10 Manitoba first nations that are under boil water advisories.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Jon Hendricks