The purpose of this study was to investigate the microbiological contamination of water and drinking cups in springs and to estimate the toxin gene, enterotoxin production ability and antibiotic susceptibility of foodborne pathogens. Ten spring water and 34 drinking cups were tested. The average number of total aerobic bacteria and coliform bacteria in spring water were 1.8 log CFU/mL and 1.2 log CFU/mL, and in drinking cups were 4.7 log CFU/ 100 cm2 and 1.7 log CFU/100 cm2. Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Yersinia enterocolitica were not isolated from all of samples but Bacillus cereus was detected in 5 (14.7%) of 34 drinking cups. The nheA and entFM genes were major enterotoxin genes in B. cereus isolated from drinking cups. All of B. cereus tested in this study produce non-heamolytic enterotoxin but only 2 isolates possessed heamolysin BL enterotoxin producing ability. B. cereus was resistant to β-lactam antibiotics. These results revealed that the sanitary conditions of drinking cups in spring should be improved promptly. The substitution carrying a personal drinking cup for the public drinking cups equipped in springs is suggested to prevent food-borne illness.

Materials and Methods
  연구대상 및 시료채취
  미생물 오염도 측정
  독소 유전자 및 독소 단백질 생산 확인실험
  항생제 감수성 실험
  통계 분석
 Results and Discussion
  약수 및 음용도구의 미생물 오염도
  약수 및 음용도구의 식중독 미생물 오염도
  독소 유전자 및 독소 단백질 생산능
  항생제 감수성
 Acknowledgement
 국문요약
 References

• 조아현(순천대학교 식품공학과, Department of Food Science and Technology, SunChon National University) | Ah-Hyeon Jo
• 최하나(순천대학교 식품공학과, Department of Food Science and Technology, SunChon National University) | Ha-Na Choi
• 허단비(순천대학교 식품공학과, Department of Food Science and Technology, SunChon National University) | Dan-Bi Heo
• 권순목(순천대학교 식품공학과, Department of Food Science and Technology, SunChon National University) | Sun-Mok Kwon
• 김중범(순천대학교 식품공학과, Department of Food Science and Technology, SunChon National University) | Jung-Beom Kim Correspondence to