학술논문
Detection of thermotolerant coliforms and SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewage and recreational waters in the Ecuadorian coast: A call for improving water quality regulation.
Document Type
Academic Journal
Author
Cárdenas-Calle M; Interinstitutional Network for the Study of Aquatic Ecosystems of Ecuador, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Patiño L; Interinstitutional Network for the Study of Aquatic Ecosystems of Ecuador, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; National Institute for Public Health Research-INSPI- Dr. Leopoldo Izquieta Pérez, Technical Direction of Research, Development and Innovation, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Pernia B; Interinstitutional Network for the Study of Aquatic Ecosystems of Ecuador, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Faculty of Natural Sciences, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Erazo R; Interinstitutional Network for the Study of Aquatic Ecosystems of Ecuador, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Labcestta, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Muñoz C; Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Valencia-Avellan M; Interinstitutional Network for the Study of Aquatic Ecosystems of Ecuador, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Facultad del Mar y Medio Ambiente, Universidad del Pacífico, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Lozada M; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Institute of Biology of Marine Organisms, CONICET, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.; Regato-Arrata M; National Institute for Public Health Research-INSPI- Dr. Leopoldo Izquieta Pérez, National Reference Center for Exanthematous, Gastroenteric and Vector-borne Viruses, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Barrera M; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Aquino S; Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fuentes S; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Duque J; Interinstitutional Network for the Study of Aquatic Ecosystems of Ecuador, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Velázquez-Araque L; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Carpio B; Dirección del Medio Ambiente, Gobierno Provincial de Santa Elena, Santa Elena, Ecuador.; Méndez-Roman C; Área Nacional de Recreación Playas Villamil, Ministerio de Ambiente Agua y Transición Ecológica, Playas, Ecuador.; Calle C; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Cárdenas G; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Guizado-Herrera D; Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; National Institute for Public Health Research-INSPI- Dr. Leopoldo Izquieta Pérez, Technical Direction of Research, Development and Innovation, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Tello CL; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; National Institute for Public Health Research-INSPI- Dr. Leopoldo Izquieta Pérez, Technical Direction of Research, Development and Innovation, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Bravo-Basantes V; Labcestta, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Francis J; Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.; Uyaguari M; Ambiente Sociedad & Empresa Research Group, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Fundación Bioelit, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador.; Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Source
Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE
Subject
Language
English
Abstract
Wastewater surveillance represents an alternative approach to regulating contamination and the early detection of infectious agents and outbreaks of diseases of public health importance. This study evaluated domestic wastewater effects on recreational waters in estuarine and seawater bodies in Guayas and Santa Elena provinces in Ecuador, South America. Fecal indicator bacteria (thermotolerant coliforms) served as key indicators for evaluation. Physical, chemical, and microbiological quality markers following the Ecuadorian environmental quality standard and the discharge of effluents to the water resource were analyzed. Samples were collected from 44 coastal sites and 2 oxidation lagoons during the dry and rainy seasons of 2020 and 2021, respectively. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in samples with higher E. coli concentrations using reverse transcription quantitative PCR to detect the genes N and ORF1ab. All samples analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 showed Ct ˂ 40 for at least one gene. Four samples showed at least 20 genome copies of gene N per reaction. These were at an artisanal fishing port, an estuarine area (Palmar), a recreational bay, and an oxidation lagoon. A moderate correlation was found between SARS-CoV-2 RNA, thermotolerant coliform and E. coli (p-value ≤ 0.0037), and a strong and positive correlation between thermotolerant coliform and E. coli. (p-value ≤ 0.00001), highlighting the utility of these established parameters as a proxy of the virus. Significant differences were found in the concentrations of thermotolerant coliforms between seasons (p-value = 0.016) and sites (p-value = 0.005). The highest levels of coliforms were found in the dry season (63000 MPN/100 mL) in Anconcito and during the rainy season (14000 MPN/100 mL) at Esterillo in Playas County. It is recommended that the decentralized autonomous governments of the surveyed provinces in Ecuador implement urgent corrective actions and establish medium-term mechanisms to minimize a potential contamination route. Additional parameters must be included in the monitoring, such as Enterococcus and intestinal parasites, due to their public health implications. In the oxidation lagoons, maintenance actions must be carried out, including the dissolution of sediments, an increase in water retention times, and in situ treatment of the sludge, to improve the system's performance.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Cárdenas-Calle et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Cárdenas-Calle et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)