Sorbitol‐fermenting bifidobacteria as specific indicators of human faecal pollution

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Abstract
Bifidobacteria were consistently present in the feces of man and pigs but only occasionally in the feces of cattle and sheep; they were not isolated from fecal samples from other animals; total counts of bifidobacteria were obtained by membrane filtration with YN-17 medium, a modification of Resnick and Levin''s YN-6 medium. Mannitol-fermenting strains of bifidobacteria were isolated from human and animal feces; sorbitol-fermenting strains were obtained only from human samples. These sorbitol-fermenting strains were identified as Bifidobacterium adolescentis or B. breve; their numbers were obtained by membrane filtration on Human Bifid Sorbitol agar. Sorbitol-fermenting bifidobacteria are specific indicators of human fecal pollution of waters and wastewaters.