Escherichia coli contamination and risk exposure assessment of humans consuming water from unprotected wells in Chaona community, Mwachisompola area of Chibombo District of Zambia
Keywords:
Escherichia coli, contamination, unprotected wells, water and risk exposure assessment
Abstract
A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted to detect the presence of E. coli in unprotected water wells of Chaona community in Mwachisompola area, Chibombo District of Zambia. A total of 48 wells drawn from four villages were sampled from the study area and an exposure assessment was done by use of add-in Model risk app in excel for risk assessment. The occurrence of the bacterium in well water was confirmed by laboratory processes of culturing, isolation and identification of E. coli. The identified E. coli was subjected to microbial resistance testing and the resistant genes were further detected by use of PCR. Out of 48 unprotected wells sampled, 38 were indicative of E. coli presenting 79% (95% CI: 77.3 – 80.7%). The individual variation results that were positive to E. coli were Chilumbwa 5/38 (32%; 95% CI: 2.3 – 23.7%), Chabwa village 10/38 (26%; 95% CI: 12.1– 39.9%), Kafwilo 11/38 (29%; 95% CI: 14.6 – 43.4%) and Katobole12/38 (32%; 95% CI: 17.2 – 46.9%). Meanwhile, 16/48 (33.3%; CI: 31.4 – 35.2%) samples were found with an average number of CFU of between 1000 and 10,000 which was the highest range. E. coli isolates were also tested for Multi Drug Resistance (MDR) of which one isolate was indicative of being resistant to eight antibiotics and another to five antibiotics presenting (5.88%; CI: 3.2 – 8.6%) for each. Meanwhile, seven isolates were resistant to four antibiotics (41.2%; CI: 35.5 – 46.9%) and eight isolates were resistant to three antibiotics (41.1%) (CI: 35.4 – 46.9%). In addition, 30.9% (17/55) of the isolated E. coli organisms were found to be resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics primarily ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, cefotaxime, nalidixic acid, norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. The probability to be exposed to E. coli was revealed to be at 79.5% (95%; CI: 66.5 – 86.7%) when consuming water from unprotected wells in the study area. In conclusion, the study revealed that E. coli contamination was highly possible, and it is recommended that water be boiled and or treated with chlorine before use at household level.References
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2. Foster NE. The Microbial Ecology of Escherichia coli in the Vertebrate gut. February. 2022:1–22. https://doi.org/10.1093/femsre/fuac008.
3. Ercumen A, Pickering AJ, Kwong LH, Arnold BF, Masud Parvez S, Alam M, Sen D, Islam S, Kullmann C, Chase C, Ahmed R, Unicomb L, Luby SP, Colford JM. Animal Feces Contribute to Domestic Fecal Contamination: Evidence from E. coli Measured in Water, Hands, Food, Flies, and Soil in Bangladesh. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b01710.
4. Chen HD. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli: Unravelling pathogenesis. 2005; 29:83–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.femsre.2004.07.002.
5. Mansan AR, Pereira AL, Giugliano LG. Diffusely adherent Escherichia coli strains isolated from children and adults constitute two different populations. BMC Microbiology. 2013; 13:1-14.
6. Juhna T, Birzniece D, Larsson S, Zulenkovs D, Sharipo A, Azevedo NF, Ménard-Szczebara F, Castagnet S, Féliers C, Keevil CW. Detection of Escherichia coli in biofilms from pipe samples and coupons in drinking water distribution networks. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2007; 73(22):7456–7464. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00845-07.
7. Gwimbi P, George M, Ramphalile M. Bacterial contamination of drinking water sources in rural villages of Mohale Basin, Lesotho: exposures through neighborhood sanitation and hygiene practices. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. 2019; 24:1-7.
8. Pal M, Ayele Y, Hadush M, Panigrahi S, Jadhav VJ. Public health hazards due to unsafe drinking water. Air Water Borne Dis. 2018; 7(1000138):2.
9. Babuji P, Thirumalaisamy S, Duraisamy K, Periyasamy G. Human Health Risks due to Exposure to Water Pollution: A Review. Water (Switzerland). 2023; 15(14):1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15142532.
10. Bain R, Johnston R, Slaymaker T. Drinking water quality and the SDGs. npj Clean Water. 2020;3 (1):37. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-020-00085-z.pdf.
11. UNICEF. 2015 Update and MDG Assessment. UNICEF. 2015.
12. Palaniappan RUM, Zhang Y, Chiu D, Torres A, DebRoy C, Whittam TS, Chang YF. Differentiation of Escherichia coli pathotypes by oligonucleotide spotted array. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2006; 44(4):1495–1501. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.44.4.1495-1501.2006.
13. Ford L, Bharadwaj L, McLeod L, Waldner C. Human health risk assessment applied to rural populations dependent on unregulated drinking water sources: A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017;14(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14080846.
14. Corbellini LG, Costa E de F, Cardoso M, Nauta M. Quantitative microbial risk assessment of Salmonella in dry fermented sausage (salami) in Southern Brazil. Microbial Risk Analysis. 2017; 6:31–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mran.2017.02.001. ScienceDirect.
15. Charan J, Biswas T. How to calculate sample size for different study designs in medical research? Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine. 2013; 35(2):121–126. https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.116232.
16. Blount ZD, Barrick JE, Davidson CJ, Lenski RE. Genomic Analysis of a Key Innovation in an Experimental E. coli Population HHS Public Access. Nature. 2012; 489(7417):513–518. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11514.Genomic.
17. Rehm HL, Bale SJ, Bayrak-Toydemir P, Berg JS, Brown KK, Deignan JL, Friez MJ, Funke BH, Hegde MR, Lyon E. ACMG clinical laboratory standards for next-generation sequencing. Genetics in Medicine. 2013; 15(9):733–747. https://doi.org/10.1038/gim.2013.92.
18. Ford L, Bharadwaj L, McLeod L, Waldner C. Human health risk assessment applied to rural populations dependent on unregulated drinking water sources: A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017;14(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14080846.
19. Benamar I, Nauta M, Cherif-Antar A, Hadef K, Boumediene K, Mezian L, Moussa-Boudjemaa B. Quantitative risk assessment of Campylobacter in döner kebab consumed in the west of Algeria. Microbial Risk Analysis. 2021;19:100172. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352352221000141.
20. Begum YA, Talukder KA, Nair GB, Qadri F, Sack RB, Svennerholm AM. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli isolated from surface water in urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2005; 43(7):3582. DOI: 10.1128/JCM.43.7.3582.
21. Phiri A. Risks of Domestic Underground Water Sources in Informal Settlement in Kabwe – Zambia. 2016; 5(2):1–14. DOI: 10.5539/ep.v5n2p1.
22. Chishimba K. Extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) Producing Escherichia coli in poultry and water in Lusaka District [Doctoral dissertation]. The University of Zambia; 2015.
23. Larson A, Hartinger SM, Riveros M, Salmon-mulanovich G, Hattendorf J, Verastegui H, Huaylinos ML, Daniel M. Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia coli in Drinking Water Samples from Rural Andean Households in Cajamarca, Peru. 2019; 100(6):1363–1368. DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0776.
24. WHO. Water safety plan: a field guide to improving. World Health Organisation; 2014.
25. Thani TS, Symekher SML, Boga H, Oundo J. Isolation and characterization of Escherichia coli pathotypes and factors associated with well and boreholes water contamination in Mombasa county. Pan African Medical Journal. 2016; 23. DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2016.23.12.7755.
26. Yulyani V, Kurnia D. Latrine use and associated factors among rural community in Indonesia. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine. 2019; 19(1):143-151. [DOI: 10.37268/mj
Published
2024-07-05
How to Cite
1.
Zgambo D, Hang’ombe B, Munyeme M, Thendji L, Kabwali E. Escherichia coli contamination and risk exposure assessment of humans consuming water from unprotected wells in Chaona community, Mwachisompola area of Chibombo District of Zambia. Journal of Agricultural and Biomedical Sciences [Internet]. 5Jul.2024 [cited 30Dec.2024];7(4). Available from: https://alumni.unza.zm/index.php/JABS/article/view/1220
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General
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