Detection and Quantification of Enteric Pathogens in Aerosols near Open Wastewater Canals in Cities with Poor Sanitation

Olivia Ginn; Lucas Rocha-Melogno; Aaron Bivins; Sarah Lowry; Maria Cardelino; Dennis Nichols; Sachchida Nand Tripathi; Freddy Soria; Marcos Andrade; Mike Bergin; Marc A. Deshusses; Joe Brown

doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c05060

Detection and Quantification of Enteric Pathogens in Aerosols near Open Wastewater Canals in Cities with Poor Sanitation

Olivia Ginn, Lucas Rocha-Melogno, Aaron Bivins, Sarah Lowry, Maria Cardelino, Dennis Nichols, Sachchida Nand Tripathi, Freddy Soria, Marcos Andrade, Mike Bergin, Marc A. Deshusses, Joe Brown

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Urban sanitation infrastructure is inadequate in many low-income countries, leading to the presence of highly concentrated, uncontained fecal waste streams in densely populated areas. Combined with mechanisms of aerosolization, airborne transport of enteric microbes and their genetic material is possible in such settings but remains poorly characterized. We detected and quantified enteric pathogen-associated gene targets in aerosol samples near open wastewater canals (OWCs) or impacted (receiving sewage or wastewater) surface waters and control sites in La Paz, Bolivia; Kanpur, India; and Atlanta, USA, via multiplex reverse-transcription qPCR (37 targets) and ddPCR (13 targets). We detected a wide range of enteric targets, some not previously reported in extramural urban aerosols, with more frequent detections of all enteric targets at higher densities in La Paz and Kanpur near OWCs. We report density estimates ranging up to 4.7 × 10²gc per m_air³across all targets including heat-stable enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli,Campylobacter jejuni, enteroinvasiveE. coli/Shigellaspp.,Salmonellaspp., norovirus, andCryptosporidiumspp. Estimated 25, 76, and 0% of samples containing positive pathogen detects were accompanied by culturableE. coliin La Paz, Kanpur, and Atlanta, respectively, suggesting potential for viability of enteric microbes at the point of sampling. Airborne transmission of enteric pathogens merits further investigation in cities with poor sanitation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	14758-14771
Number of pages	14
Journal	Environmental Science & Technology
Volume	55
Issue number	21
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05060
State	Published - 2 Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1653226. Many thanks go to the authors’ colleagues at IIT-Kanpur including Hari Shankar, Harish Vishwakarma, Shivshankar Mishraa, and numerous others who helped with instrumentation and shared their laboratory space. The authors further acknowledge the kind people who shared their homes and their tea with them as they sampled in the community. Thanks also go to all of the authors’ colleagues at Universidad Católica Boliviana and Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, including undergraduate assistants.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society

Keywords

bioaerosols
ddPCR
enteric pathogens
environmental health
urban sanitation

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Ginn, O., Rocha-Melogno, L., Bivins, A., Lowry, S., Cardelino, M., Nichols, D., Tripathi, S. N., Soria, F., Andrade, M., Bergin, M., Deshusses, M. A., & Brown, J. (2021). Detection and Quantification of Enteric Pathogens in Aerosols near Open Wastewater Canals in Cities with Poor Sanitation. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(21), 14758-14771. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05060

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abstract = "Urban sanitation infrastructure is inadequate in many low-income countries, leading to the presence of highly concentrated, uncontained fecal waste streams in densely populated areas. Combined with mechanisms of aerosolization, airborne transport of enteric microbes and their genetic material is possible in such settings but remains poorly characterized. We detected and quantified enteric pathogen-associated gene targets in aerosol samples near open wastewater canals (OWCs) or impacted (receiving sewage or wastewater) surface waters and control sites in La Paz, Bolivia; Kanpur, India; and Atlanta, USA, via multiplex reverse-transcription qPCR (37 targets) and ddPCR (13 targets). We detected a wide range of enteric targets, some not previously reported in extramural urban aerosols, with more frequent detections of all enteric targets at higher densities in La Paz and Kanpur near OWCs. We report density estimates ranging up to 4.7 × 102gc per mair3across all targets including heat-stable enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli,Campylobacter jejuni, enteroinvasiveE. coli/Shigellaspp.,Salmonellaspp., norovirus, andCryptosporidiumspp. Estimated 25, 76, and 0% of samples containing positive pathogen detects were accompanied by culturableE. coliin La Paz, Kanpur, and Atlanta, respectively, suggesting potential for viability of enteric microbes at the point of sampling. Airborne transmission of enteric pathogens merits further investigation in cities with poor sanitation.",

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Ginn, O, Rocha-Melogno, L, Bivins, A, Lowry, S, Cardelino, M, Nichols, D, Tripathi, SN, Soria, F, Andrade, M, Bergin, M, Deshusses, MA & Brown, J 2021, 'Detection and Quantification of Enteric Pathogens in Aerosols near Open Wastewater Canals in Cities with Poor Sanitation', Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 55, no. 21, pp. 14758-14771. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05060

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T1 - Detection and Quantification of Enteric Pathogens in Aerosols near Open Wastewater Canals in Cities with Poor Sanitation

AU - Ginn, Olivia

AU - Rocha-Melogno, Lucas

AU - Bivins, Aaron

AU - Lowry, Sarah

AU - Cardelino, Maria

AU - Nichols, Dennis

AU - Tripathi, Sachchida Nand

AU - Soria, Freddy

AU - Andrade, Marcos

AU - Bergin, Mike

AU - Deshusses, Marc A.

AU - Brown, Joe

PY - 2021/11/2

Y1 - 2021/11/2

N2 - Urban sanitation infrastructure is inadequate in many low-income countries, leading to the presence of highly concentrated, uncontained fecal waste streams in densely populated areas. Combined with mechanisms of aerosolization, airborne transport of enteric microbes and their genetic material is possible in such settings but remains poorly characterized. We detected and quantified enteric pathogen-associated gene targets in aerosol samples near open wastewater canals (OWCs) or impacted (receiving sewage or wastewater) surface waters and control sites in La Paz, Bolivia; Kanpur, India; and Atlanta, USA, via multiplex reverse-transcription qPCR (37 targets) and ddPCR (13 targets). We detected a wide range of enteric targets, some not previously reported in extramural urban aerosols, with more frequent detections of all enteric targets at higher densities in La Paz and Kanpur near OWCs. We report density estimates ranging up to 4.7 × 102gc per mair3across all targets including heat-stable enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli,Campylobacter jejuni, enteroinvasiveE. coli/Shigellaspp.,Salmonellaspp., norovirus, andCryptosporidiumspp. Estimated 25, 76, and 0% of samples containing positive pathogen detects were accompanied by culturableE. coliin La Paz, Kanpur, and Atlanta, respectively, suggesting potential for viability of enteric microbes at the point of sampling. Airborne transmission of enteric pathogens merits further investigation in cities with poor sanitation.

AB - Urban sanitation infrastructure is inadequate in many low-income countries, leading to the presence of highly concentrated, uncontained fecal waste streams in densely populated areas. Combined with mechanisms of aerosolization, airborne transport of enteric microbes and their genetic material is possible in such settings but remains poorly characterized. We detected and quantified enteric pathogen-associated gene targets in aerosol samples near open wastewater canals (OWCs) or impacted (receiving sewage or wastewater) surface waters and control sites in La Paz, Bolivia; Kanpur, India; and Atlanta, USA, via multiplex reverse-transcription qPCR (37 targets) and ddPCR (13 targets). We detected a wide range of enteric targets, some not previously reported in extramural urban aerosols, with more frequent detections of all enteric targets at higher densities in La Paz and Kanpur near OWCs. We report density estimates ranging up to 4.7 × 102gc per mair3across all targets including heat-stable enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli,Campylobacter jejuni, enteroinvasiveE. coli/Shigellaspp.,Salmonellaspp., norovirus, andCryptosporidiumspp. Estimated 25, 76, and 0% of samples containing positive pathogen detects were accompanied by culturableE. coliin La Paz, Kanpur, and Atlanta, respectively, suggesting potential for viability of enteric microbes at the point of sampling. Airborne transmission of enteric pathogens merits further investigation in cities with poor sanitation.

KW - bioaerosols

KW - ddPCR

KW - enteric pathogens

KW - environmental health

KW - urban sanitation

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U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.1c05060

DO - 10.1021/acs.est.1c05060

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VL - 55

SP - 14758

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JO - Environmental Science & Technology

JF - Environmental Science & Technology

SN - 0013-936X

IS - 21

ER -

Detection and Quantification of Enteric Pathogens in Aerosols near Open Wastewater Canals in Cities with Poor Sanitation

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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