Highlights Effective WASH is necessary in the control of SARS-CoV-2 infection WASH situation in in low income countries is still inadequate for effective control of SARS-CoV-2 infection Proper Awareness on effective WASH is required under the current SARS-CoV-2 outbreak Detection of viral particles in faces, urine and wastewater could serve as early warning on SARS-CoV-2 infection trend.

The fate and transport of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in lotic waters through vegetated filter strips (VFSs) was evaluated in a field model pasture, utilizing VFSMOD Windows along with direct pathogen testing. This study assessed effects of VFS on transport and deposition rates of E. coli in lotic overland flow waters. The VFS measured 44 m long by 40 m wide, covering an area of 1584 m2 and land slope of 15 %. Cowpat was applied onto the model pasture and washed by overland flow into the VFS. The 4-methylumbelliferyl β-D-glucuronide substrate confirmed the identity of E. coli prior to cowpat application and after isolating them from soil using centrifugation and membrane filtration techniques. Napier grass root system recorded the highest recovery rates of E. coli at 99.9 % along the length of VFS III. This efficiency reduced significantly (p < 0.05; df = 29) to 95 % in Kikuyu grass and 75 % in Couch grass–Buffer grass. The data demonstrated similarity in transport of manure-borne E. coli and organic carbon (OC) through all the simulated VFS. These results indicated that OC could be used as a true natural tracer of manure-borne E. coli, a pollution indicator organism of lentic and lotic surface waters provided the OC release kinetics from cowpat were similar to that of E. coli kinetics. Thus, efficient filtering to reduce E. coli concentrations and load in overland flows requires managing combined grass species, agro-pastoral systems models and dispersed or preferential flows to enhance surface water quality standards.

Objective: Bacterial wilt disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is a major constrain to production of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum). Control of bacterial wilt is very difficult as there are no effective curative chemicals. This study was aimed at investigating the potential roles of essential oil plants in control of the disease. Methodology and Result: The plants used included: Lippie javanica (Sage brush), Ocimum suave (Cambodia) and Tarchonanthus camphorates (Camphor brush).Experiments were conducted with potatoes grown in greenhouse condition. Freshly harvested leaves, stems and flowers from L. javanica, O. suave and T. camphorates were chopped into small portions that were soaked in water for one hour then applied in the inoculated experimental plots. Each plot was planted with disease-free potato tubers and disease development observed and recorded for a period of two months. Plots treated with T. camphorates had significantly low bacterial wilt incidence (P< 0.05) having been reduced by more than 90%.Treatment with the other two plants, O. suave and L. javanica reduced the disease by 38% and 21% respectively and were not significantly different from untreated plots. Conclusion and Application of Results:This finding shows that use of essential oils isa potential approach to bacterial wilt disease management. It can be concluded that essential oils plants possess antibacterial activity that is effective in control of R. solanacearum. Application of these essential oils can volatilize with increase of temperature. The application can be done by burying chopped essential oil plant parts in the soil during the time of land preparation just before planting. Further studies on the mode of action of these essential oils particularly those of T. comphrates in the control of R. solanacearum are suggested.

Agro-pastoral operations have the potential to threaten public health with loading of diverse pathogens into surface waters through overland flow; increasing awareness of the limitations of fecal indicators has led to development of a number of advancements in detection, source tracking and predictive modeling of public health risk. These tools and techniques are beginning to be integrated into management strategies. The objective of this review was to determine the status of current knowledge and challenges of the fate and transport of Escherichia coli in overland flow and their interaction within vegetative filter strip (VFS) as one of these implemented best management practices and to critically evaluate its use in that setting as an indicator organism. With few studies directly focusing on VFS removal of E. coli from overland flow, we critically evaluated the available data on movement of E. coil from fecal source loading to retention and decay or re-release for potential contamination of water ways and pointed out potential limitations in both pathogen-specific removal and its use as an indicator organisms within overland flow and VFS. Critical areas of focus for future studies to reduce gaps in knowledge were identified, and the integration of newer approaches in source tracking, alternative indicators and the use of non-pathogenic surrogates for field testing of existing VFS models was encouraged. With VFS as a growing field of interest as an economical conservation practice and as an avenue for conservation of resources for small-scale agro-pastoral operations, management strategies to reduce initial fecal load from either applied manure constituents or shedding from free-range animals will continue to test the limits in the applications of models to overland flow and VFS management strategies. Further studies at the microscale in understanding discrepancies between low and high pathogenicity strains of E. coil and between E. coil and other fecal pathogens in the context of VFS will be critical. However, nuanced studies are needed to understand either biological or environmental differences in the fate and transport of the diverse types of fecal pathogens within these settings

Cyprinus carpio is the most important fish species in the Lake Naivasha fishery, comprising 51% of the total catch in the lake. Microflora, especially enteric bacteria of human or animal origin, are the causative agent for fish contamination and spoilage. Poor sanitation standards and poor sewage treatment and disposal methods within Lake Naivasha and its catchment pose a great threat for degrading the quality of C. carpio. The potential impact is rejection of the fish in the local, regional and international markets, risking the collapse of the Lake Naivasha fishery. This study determined the bacterial quality of water and C. carpio from three different sites within Lake Naivasha, namely Malewa River mouth, sewage discharge point and a mid‐lake site, based on plate count techniques. Physicochemical parameters characterizing the lake water also were also measured in situ. This study results indicated that both the fish and water in Lake Naivasha exhibited poor bacterial quality. All the physicochemical parameters were within the recommended range for fish culture, although they also were conducive to the proliferation of bacteria. Most of the sampling sites exhibited significant spatial variation in their bacterial abundance (P < 0.05). The sewage discharge sampling site exhibited the highest mean density values for bacterial densities and clearly degrade the quality of the fish in the lake. Proper sewage treatment, and the installation of modern sanitation facilities, is recommended to improve the bacterial quality of the fish.