Photo by V. Miller
March 22, 2006
Water-Borne Diseases
Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water
Aaron Rozon, 13, Kapa'a, Hawaii
Finalist, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, 2005
Project background: After two dogs in his neighborhood died from a water-borne disease called leptospirosis, Aaron became interested in the water quality on and around Kauai. He decided to examine the bacteria count in a river near his home.
Tactics and results: Aaron learned that leptospirosis is spread mostly by bacteria that live in animal urine, so he decided to focus his research on areas where the river water might have a high urine content. Aaron selected two areas to test: the lower river watershed, a well-developed area where there were more people than animals; and the upper watershed, where there were more animals than people. Because there are no inexpensive tests for the bacterium that causes leptospirosis, Aaron decided to test for Enterococcus bacteria, which are known live in the same environment as the bacterium that causes leptospirosis. He collected samples from five locations, incubated them, and charted the growth of Enterococcus.
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| Photo by V. Miller |
The lower watershed had the higher bacteria count, which to Aaron indicated a significant risk to people as well as other animals.
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