A systematic review of enteric pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes in outdoor urban aerosols

Ginn, Olivia; Lowry, Sarah; Brown, Joe

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113097

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…Despite the heavy research focus on human-associated bioaerosols, most bioaerosols are derived from plants, soil [ 23 , 24 ], and natural bodies of water [ 25 ]. Increasingly, researchers have attempted to track the fate of bioaerosols from anthropogenic sources [ 11 , 13 , 14 ].…”

Section: Bioaerosolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Run-off from manure application or livestock barns introduces unprocessed antimicrobial compounds and resistant organisms to soils and watercourses, allowing ARGs to spread to populations of naïve microbes via horizontal gene transfer [ 5 ]. However, airborne ARG dispersal is increasingly recognized as an important, though severely understudied, route for disseminating AMR in the environment [ 5 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment: Towards Elucidating the Roles of Bioaerosols in Transmission and Detection of Antibacterial Resistance Genes

et al. 2022

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is continuing to grow across the world. Though often thought of as a mostly public health issue, AMR is also a major agricultural and environmental problem. As such, many researchers refer to it as the preeminent One Health issue. Aerial transport of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria via bioaerosols is still poorly understood. Recent work has highlighted the presence of antibiotic resistance genes in bioaerosols. Emissions of AMR bacteria and genes have been detected from various sources, including wastewater treatment plants, hospitals, and agricultural practices; however, their impacts on the broader environment are poorly understood. Contextualizing the roles of bioaerosols in the dissemination of AMR necessitates a multidisciplinary approach. Environmental factors, industrial and medical practices, as well as ecological principles influence the aerial dissemination of resistant bacteria. This article introduces an ongoing project assessing the presence and fate of AMR in bioaerosols across Canada. Its various sub-studies include the assessment of the emissions of antibiotic resistance genes from many agricultural practices, their long-distance transport, new integrative methods of assessment, and the creation of dissemination models over short and long distances. Results from sub-studies are beginning to be published. Consequently, this paper explains the background behind the development of the various sub-studies and highlight their shared aspects.

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Section: Bioaerosolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment: Towards Elucidating the Roles of Bioaerosols in Transmission and Detection of Antibacterial Resistance Genes

et al. 2022

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“…In wastewater bioaerosols, pathogens such as Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Micrococcus have been detected, with longterm exposure having the potential to lead to chronic diseases (Yang et al, 2019). Recently, fecal based microbial genes were found in the bioaerosols in LMIC settings with inadequate sanitation infrastructure (Ginn et al, 2022). However, few of these studies measured viability, and even fewer studies connect pathogen viability to enteric pathogen exposure (Ginn et al, 2022).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, fecal based microbial genes were found in the bioaerosols in LMIC settings with inadequate sanitation infrastructure (Ginn et al, 2022). However, few of these studies measured viability, and even fewer studies connect pathogen viability to enteric pathogen exposure (Ginn et al, 2022).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Using illustrated system analysis for qualitative risk assessment of emptying of pit latrines

Tsai

Wilson²,

Reyes³

2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Pit latrines as the primary means of sanitation for billions of people. Fecal sludge must be removed regularly when pit latrines fill up, and the workers who empty these latrines are essential service providers. Pit latrine emptying services and approaches are highly variable, ranging from highly trained teams using vacuum trucks with a suite of personal protective equipment to individuals with no protection using simple manual tools like buckets and shovels. While national governments and nonprofits endeavor to make pit latrine emptying safer, the people making day-to-day decisions such as local pit emptying associations, sanitation businesses, utilities, and local governments have limited resources to evaluate how different emptying practices vary in terms of risk. In this paper we describe the development of an open-source Illustrated System Analysis tool for the fecal sludge management community. This tool can be used in conjunction with a simple risk assessment matrix to help decision makers describe, compare, and prioritize risks for mitigation. We demonstrate this process by outlining how a pit emptying team can compare mechanical and manual emptying with respect to ingestion of fecal material and inhalation of fecal bioaerosols. Illustrated System Analysis can be a tool to analyze fecal sludge management systems, and the associated challenges and opportunities so that they could be understood and referenced by the wider public and used to spark innovation. We provide a library of graphics freely under creative commons.

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“…It is also prudent to investigate the ARGs in ambient settings [ 26 ]. Increased urbanization, population densification, climate change, improper disposal of municipal solid waste and poor sanitization are some factors that are realized as AMR contributors in urban outdoor environments [ 27 , 28 ]. Some examples have indicated aerosols above an estuary [ 29 ], soil dust [ 30 ], livestock excreta from farms [ 31 , 32 ], wastewater treatment plants [ 33 ], hospitals [ 23 , 34 ] and solid waste treatment plants [ 24 ] as sources of ARGs in ambient air.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Aerosols: Baseline from Kuwait

Habibi

Uddin

Behbehani

et al. 2023

IJMS

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest threats to human health worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) has launched the “One-Health” approach, which encourages assessment of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) within environments shared by human-animals-plants-microbes to constrain and alleviate the development of AMR. Aerosols as a medium to disseminate ARGs, have received minimal attention. In the present study, we investigated the distribution and abundance of ARGs in indoor and outdoor aerosols collected from an urban location in Kuwait and the interior of three hospitals. The high throughput quantitative polymerase chain reaction (HT-qPCR) approach was used for this purpose. The results demonstrate the presence of aminoglycoside, beta-lactam, fluoroquinolone, tetracycline, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB), multidrug-resistant (MDR) and vancomycin-resistant genes in the aerosols. The most dominant drug class was beta-lactam and the genes were IMP-2-group (0.85), Per-2 group (0.65), OXA-54 (0.57), QnrS (0.50) and OXA-55 (0.55) in the urban non-clinical settings. The indoor aerosols possessed a richer diversity (Observed, Chao1, Shannon’s and Pielou’s evenness) of ARGs compared to the outdoors. Seasonal variations (autumn vs. winter) in relative abundances and types of ARGs were also recorded (R2 of 0.132 at p < 0.08). The presence of ARGs was found in both the inhalable (2.1 µm, 1.1 µm, 0.7 µm and < 0.3 µm) and respirable (>9.0 µm, 5.8 µm, 4.7 µm and 3.3 µm) size fractions within hospital aerosols. All the ARGs are of pathogenic bacterial origin and are hosted by pathogenic forms. The findings present baseline data and underpin the need for detailed investigations looking at aerosol as a vehicle for ARG dissemination among human and non-human terrestrial biota.

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A systematic review of enteric pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes in outdoor urban aerosols

Cited by 10 publications

References 133 publications

Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment: Towards Elucidating the Roles of Bioaerosols in Transmission and Detection of Antibacterial Resistance Genes

Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment: Towards Elucidating the Roles of Bioaerosols in Transmission and Detection of Antibacterial Resistance Genes

Using illustrated system analysis for qualitative risk assessment of emptying of pit latrines

Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Aerosols: Baseline from Kuwait

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