Sensitivity of Moore sewer swabs for isolating Salmonella typhi

Abstract

Moore swabs (sewer swabs) have been used successfully to culture pathogenic organisms from wastewater. Sensitivity seems to depend on the size of the waterway sampled as well as the number of organisms present. In Santiago, Chile, we placed 24 swabs into the sewers draining the homes of 10 known chronic carriers of typhoid. Swabs were positive for Salmonella typhi in 5 of the 10 households (50%) and 6 of the 24 swabs placed (25%).