DETECTION OF VIABLE TOXIGENIC "VIBRIO CHOLERAE" AND VIRULENT "SHIGELLA" SPP. IN ENVIRONMENTAL WATERS BY PIT-STOP SEMINESTRED POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION ASSAYS

Protocols have been developed for the detection of viable Shigella spp. and toxigenic Vibrio chlorerae. The detection protocol decribed here, consists of a non selective enrichisment process followed by a rapid and simple DNA preparation step and a pit-stop seminested polymerase chain reactionassay. The sensitivity of the procedure was determined by using artificially seeded water sampled collected for natural sources.