IAHS2022-250
https://doi.org/10.5194/iahs2022-250
IAHS-AISH Scientific Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Water based epidemiology: a new wave?

Patricia Licznar-Fajardo1, Nicolas Bernaud2, Ayad Almakki2, Aboubakar Diaby3, Iman Bouazizi2, Fabien Aujoulat2, Mylene Toubiana2, Agnes Masnou2, Jean-Louis Perrin2, Luc Seguis2, Kalpy Julien Coulibaly3, and Estelle Jumas-Bilak1
Patricia Licznar-Fajardo et al.
  • 1HSM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France (patricia.licznar-fajardo@umontpellier.fr)
  • 2HSM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Montpellier, France
  • 3UCME, département environnement et santé, Institut Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

The screening wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 RNA has emerged in over 50 countries as a tool for tracking COVID-19 in population alongside traditional clinical monitoring, highlighting the usefulness of (waste)water-based epidemiology (WBE). Facing the significant problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the monitoring of environmental AMR in epidemiologic aim is still poorly documented. As for COVID-19, WBE could be a proxy of AMR epidemiology in the context of lack of biological data i) at the community level in high income-country and ii) in lower middle-income country when resistance is often non-documented in human infections.

The aim of the study is to explore AMR from surface water running in or in the vicinity of two contrasted densely urbanized areas: Lez watershed, Montpellier, France and Djibi watershed, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

From June to November 2015, we collected 24 water samples, on 2 urban rivers in the Heart of Montpellier city: 2 sampling sites around the university hospital of Montpellier, 1 site downstream a public park and 1 site in a residential area. From July 2018 to November 2019, we collected 11 water samples in Djibi watershed (n = 11): 2 peri-urban sampling sites just outside of the Abidjan-urban area, 1 site downstream a wetland area and 1 site upstream the Aghien Lagoon.

In both cities, 100% of samples were positive for blaTEM, an endemic beta-lactamase-encoding gene. In Montpellier, blaSHV and blaCTX-M were positive in 21% of samples. In Djibi watershed, 54% and 27% of samples were positive to both blaSHV and blaCTX-M, respectively. For carbapenemase-encoding genes which confer emerging resistance to last resort antibiotics, data were more contrasted between Montpellier and Abidjan. These genes were sparingly detected in Montpellier when the carbapenemase-encoding genes blaKPC, blaNDM, blaOXA-48 were each detected in 27% of samples in Djibi watershed samples.

The worrisome epidemiology of AMR requires to identify AMR environmental reservoirs. AMR in urban settings could represent a hot spot in the dynamics of the epidemiological cycle of AMR. The development of WBE could help to cartography AMR at a small-territory scale to help for medical decisions, alerts and implementation of preventive measures.

How to cite: Licznar-Fajardo, P., Bernaud, N., Almakki, A., Diaby, A., Bouazizi, I., Aujoulat, F., Toubiana, M., Masnou, A., Perrin, J.-L., Seguis, L., Coulibaly, K. J., and Jumas-Bilak, E.: Water based epidemiology: a new wave?, IAHS-AISH Scientific Assembly 2022, Montpellier, France, 29 May–3 Jun 2022, IAHS2022-250, https://doi.org/10.5194/iahs2022-250, 2022.