Listener Susan is a biologist and she tested samples of Boyer's shower carpet and his water cup to see what kind of stuff is growing on them! See the DISGUSTING results below.
The carpet:
Acinetobacter sp. This organism occurs naturally in soil, water and sewage environments. It is pretty innocuous, it doesn’t really cause us humans any problems.
Serratia marcescens. Textbook shower bacterium. It thrives in moist environments that never completely dry out. It can cause opportunistic infections in humans.
Bacillus sp. Bacillus is VERY ubiquitous in the environment – it is a spore former so when times get tough, it forms a very strong resting structure that is resistant to adverse environmental conditions. Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax and the reason it is so difficult to contain is because these spores just blow around in the air…
E Coli ssp. We all know where E. coli comes from, don’t we? I do want to say that there are many sub species of E. coli that are not virulent. It is very commonly a harmless member of the gut community in warm blooded mammals.
The cup:
The cup was COVERED with Staphylococcus aureus. Inside, outside, the rim. Staph isn’t uncommon, many of us carry it on our skin and in our nasal passages. Some sub species carry a virulence factor which imparts methicillin resistance – this species is referred to as MRSA. These strains cause hospital and community acquired infections. MRSA is spread by person to person or surface contact.