Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging hospital pathogen. Whereas A. baumannii isolated from patients or hospitals has been reported, there are few data regarding propagation of viable A. baumannii in the natural environment. This study investigates the occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of viable A. baumannii in municipal wastewater and its persistence through the wastewater treatment process. A total of 21 A. baumannii isolates were recovered at a secondary type of municipal wastewater treatment plant in Zagreb, Croatia: 15 from raw influent wastewater and six from final effluent. All isolates were carbapenem- and multidrug-resistant. Among 14 isolates tested for blaOXA genes, all harboured the constitutive blaOXA-51-like gene, while the acquired blaOXA-23-like and blaOXA-40-like genes were found in 10 and three isolates respectively. Six A. baumannii isolates recovered from effluent wastewater multiplied and survived in sterilised effluent wastewater up to 50 days. These findings support the idea that multidrug-resistant A. baumannii can occur and have the ability to survive in the environment.
During the four pandemic waves, a total of 560,504 cases and 10,178 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in Croatia. The Alpha variant, dominant from March 2021 (>50% of positive samples), was rapidly replaced by Delta variants (>90%) by August 2021. Several seroprevalence studies were conducted in different populations (general population, children/adolescents, professional athletes, healthcare workers, veterinarians) and in immunocompromised patients (hemodialysis patients, liver/kidney transplant recipients). After the first pandemic wave, seroprevalence rates of neutralizing (NT) antibodies were reported to be 0.2–5.5%. Significantly higher seropositivity was detected during/after the second wave, 2.6–18.7%. Two studies conducted in pet animals (February-June 2020/July–December 2020) reported SARS-CoV-2 NT antibodies in 0.76% of cats and 0.31–14.69% of dogs, respectively. SARS-CoV-2 NT antibodies were not detected in wildlife. Environmental samples taken in the households of COVID-19 patients showed high-touch personal objects as most frequently contaminated (17.3%), followed by surfaces in patients’ rooms (14.6%), kitchens (13.3%) and bathrooms (8.3%). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was also detected in 96.8% affluent water samples, while all effluent water samples tested negative. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in humans, animals and the environment suggests that the ‘One Health’ approach is critical to controlling COVID-19 and future pandemics.
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