Antibiotic resistance; Recreational water; Bathing water; Water quality; Wallonia; Human health exposure risk assessment
Abstract :
[en] The objective of this work was to evaluate the antimicrobial resistant (AR) E. coli prevalence in
recreational waters in Belgium and to assess the exposure risk for bathers. Nine stations were
sampled during the 2021 bathing season. A total of 912 E. coli strains were isolated and tested by
the disk diffusion method in accordance with EUCAST recommendations, including ExtendedSpectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) production. AR E. coli were counted at each bathing sites,
24% of strains were resistant to at least one antibiotic and 6% were Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR).
A Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) index was calculated to compare the bathing sites. The
Lesse river had the highest MAR index as well as the highest E. coli absolute abundance and the
largest number of ESBL-producing E. coli. Conversely, the 3 lakes showed lower E. coli contamination levels and AR rates. A human health risk assessment of exposure to AR E. coli, based on the
calculation of measured prevalence, was performed considering four different dose-response
model scenarios. The human health risk (Pd) ranged from 10− 9 to 0.183 (children). The exposure probabilities were low, except for scenario 3 (E. coli O157:H7), which is the most severe.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Crettels, Leslie ✱; Université de Liège - ULiège > Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals and Health (FARAH)
Champon, L. ✱; Scientific Institute of Public Service (ISSeP) Liège, Belgium > Department of Microbiology
Burlion, N.; Scientific Institute of Public Service (ISSeP), Liège, Belgium > Department of Microbiology
Delrée, E.; Scientific Institute of Public Service (ISSeP), Liège, Belgium > Department of Microbiology
Saegerman, Claude ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des maladies infectieuses et parasitaires (DMI) > Epidémiologie et analyse des risques appliqués aux sciences vétérinaires
Thiry, Damien ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des maladies infectieuses et parasitaires (DMI) > Bactériologie vétérinaire et maladies bactériennes animales
✱ These authors have contributed equally to this work.
Language :
English
Title :
Antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli prevalence in freshwaters in Belgium and human exposure risk assessment
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