Waterborne pathogens and related diseases are a major public health concern worldwide, not only by the morbidity and mortality that they cause, but by the high cost that represents their prevention and treatment. These diseases are directly related to environmental deterioration and pollution. Despite the continued efforts to maintain water safety, waterborne outbreaks are still reported globally. Proper assessment of pathogens on water and water quality monitoring are key factors for decision-making regarding water distribution systems’ infrastructure, the choice of best water treatment and prevention waterborne outbreaks. Powerful, sensitive and reproducible diagnostic tools are developed to monitor pathogen contamination in water and be able to detect not only cultivable pathogens but also to detect the occurrence of viable but non-culturable microorganisms as well as the presence of pathogens on biofilms. Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is a helpful tool to evaluate the scenarios for pathogen contamination that involve surveillance, detection methods, analysis and decision-making. This review aims to present a research outlook on waterborne outbreaks that have occurred in recent years. This review also focuses in the main molecular techniques for detection of waterborne pathogens and the use of QMRA approach to protect public health.

BackgroundUropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are one of the main bacteria causing urinary tract infections (UTIs). The rates of UPEC with high resistance towards antibiotics and multidrug-resistant bacteria have increased dramatically in recent years and could difficult the treatment.MethodsThe aim of the study was to determine multidrug-resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistance profile, virulence traits, and genetic background of 110 E. coli isolated from community (79 isolates) and hospital-acquired (31 isolates) urinary tract infections. The plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes presence was also investigated. A subset of 18 isolates with a quinolone-resistance phenotype was examined for common virulence genes encoded in diarrheagenic and extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli by a specific E. coli microarray.ResultsFemale children were the group most affected by UTIs, which were mainly community-acquired. Resistance to trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole, ampicillin, and ampicillin–sulbactam was most prevalent. A frequent occurrence of resistance toward ciprofloxacin (47.3%), levofloxacin (43.6%) and cephalosporins (27.6%) was observed. In addition, 63% of the strains were multidrug-resistant (MDR). Almost all the fluoroquinolone (FQ)-resistant strains showed MDR-phenotype. Isolates from male patients were associated to FQ-resistant and MDR-phenotype. Moreover, hospital-acquired infections were correlated to third generation cephalosporin and nitrofurantoin resistance and the presence of kpsMTII gene. Overall, fimH (71.8%) and fyuA (68.2%), had the highest prevalence as virulence genes among isolates. However, the profile of virulence genes displayed a great diversity, which included the presence of genes related to diarrheagenic E. coli. Out of 110 isolates, 25 isolates (22.7%) were positive to qnrA, 23 (20.9%) to qnrB, 7 (6.4%) to qnrS1, 7 (6.4%) to aac(6′)lb-cr, 5 (4.5%) to qnrD, and 1 (0.9%) to qnrC genes. A total of 12.7% of the isolates harbored blaCTX-M genes, with blaCTX-M-15 being the most prevalent.ConclusionsUrinary tract infection due to E. coli may be difficult to treat empirically due to high resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Continuous surveillance of multidrug resistant organisms and patterns of drug resistance are needed in order to prevent treatment failure and reduce selective pressure. These findings may help choosing more suitable treatments of UTI patients in this region of Mexico.

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BackgroundActinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is the etiologic agent of porcine contagious pleuropneumonia, which causes important worldwide economic losses in the swine industry. Several respiratory tract infections are associated with biofilm formation, and A. pleuropneumoniae has the ability to form biofilms in vitro. Biofilms are structured communities of bacterial cells enclosed in a self-produced polymer matrix that are attached to an abiotic or biotic surface. Virtually all bacteria can grow as a biofilm, and multi-species biofilms are the most common form of microbial growth in nature. The goal of this study was to determine the ability of A. pleuropneumoniae to form multi-species biofilms with other bacteria frequently founded in pig farms, in the absence of pyridine compounds (nicotinamide mononucleotide [NMN], nicotinamide riboside [NR] or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide [NAD]) that are essential for the growth of A. pleuropneumoniae.ResultsFor the biofilm assay, strain 719, a field isolate of A. pleuropneumoniae serovar 1, was mixed with swine isolates of Streptococcus suis, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Pasteurella multocida, Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli, and deposited in 96-well microtiter plates. Based on the CFU results, A. pleuropneumoniae was able to grow with every species tested in the absence of pyridine compounds in the culture media. Interestingly, A. pleuropneumoniae was also able to form strong biofilms when mixed with S. suis, B. bronchiseptica or S. aureus. In the presence of E. coli, A. pleuropneumoniae only formed a weak biofilm. The live and dead populations, and the matrix composition of multi-species biofilms were also characterized using fluorescent markers and enzyme treatments. The results indicated that poly-N-acetyl-glucosamine remains the primary component responsible for the biofilm structure.ConclusionsIn conclusion, A. pleuropneumoniae apparently is able to satisfy the requirement of pyridine compounds through of other swine pathogens by cross-feeding, which enables A. pleuropneumoniae to grow and form multi-species biofilms.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-016-0742-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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