19 Dec 2018

Fish and Game Canterbury river tests reveal dangerous bacteria

From Morning Report, 7:21 am on 19 December 2018

New tests have revealed three Canterbury rivers are contaminated with strains of a dangerous pathogen which can cause kidney failure. They also show, possibly for the first time in New Zealand, that the water is polluted with an antibiotic resistant strain of E coli. Public health officials say the independent testing commissioned by Fish and Game raises red flags that need more investigation. Kate Gudsell reports.