Faecal Strep vs. Enterococci

I have two questions that require some advice:

1. Are these these bacteria the same or are they completely different?
Under the new WHO guidelines for recreational water quality it says that
these two are interchangeable, so I'm a bit confused as I thought they were
different. So, if a guideline refers to enterococci does it imply FStrep as
well?

2. I'm looking at the APHA Standard methods and there are two different
methods for testing for FStrep and Enterococci. However, in the
verification stage it says that colonies can be tested for growth on NaCl to
test for Enterococci. Does this mean that i can test for Enterococci
following the FStrep procedure and base my Enterococci counts on this?

Thank you for your assistance.

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in article [Only registered users see links. ], "agy lee" at
[Only registered users see links. ] wrote on 11/29/03 7:23 PM:


The organisms in the genus Enterococcus used to be included in the
Streptococcus genus. Streptococcus faecalis is now Enterococcus faecalis.
The Enterococci will grow in 6.5% NaCl where Strep will not. Many years ago
I used a purple broth called SF Broth. Enterococcus would turn the broth
yellow. A newer test is the PYRase test that is positive for Enterococcus
and negative for most Streps - Group A Streptococcus pyogenes is PYR pos.
Another test is usually added to separate those 2 - the GLCase. Enterococcus
is positive and Strep. Pyogenes is neg.

As far as groupings go, Enterococcus sp. Used to be classified as a Group D
Strep. They do agglutinate the Group D antisera, and there are still
Streptococcus organisms listed under Group D that are not Enterococcus.

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John Gentile Secretary, Rhode Island Apple Group
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