CAREER: Bioaerosols and Enteric Pathogen Risk in Cities with Poor Sanitation

许多城市，特别是发展中国家的城市，卫生基础设施差，其特点是存在许多相互关联的问题，包括污水流不受控制、缺乏功能性污水网络、露天下水道、排水不良、城市水道受到严重污染、废水处理不充分以及生物固体处置不安全。卫生条件差的城市居民通过许多途径接触到一系列病原体，造成了很高的疾病负担。在这些环境中尚未充分表征的一种途径是空气微生物（AMB）途径：在人口中心附近存在未受控制的粪便废物的气溶胶中运输病原体。在这个项目中，PI旨在促进我们对生物气溶胶在这些环境中传播病原体中的作用的理解。研究结果也将适用于美国和其他发达国家的许多环境；这些环境包括集约化畜牧业、废水基础设施和生物固体管理领域。实地研究将与创新的、实际操作的本科工程课程相结合，重点关注影响服务不足社区全球公共卫生的环境问题。该项目旨在确定生物气溶胶是否代表卫生条件差的城市中持续接触肠道病原体的来源。一系列研究的目标是：(i)通过依赖培养物和不依赖培养物的方法，确定来自发展中国家三个城市的空气样本中重要的人类肠道病原体的患病率、浓度和潜在生存能力，这些城市代表了不同季节和多年的一系列条件；（ii）含有肠道病原体的气溶胶的粒径和来源分配，以建立运输和暴露模型；（iii）可能与这些病原体的存在、浓度和生存能力有关的环境和建筑环境变量，包括季节、温度和相对湿度、降雨事件、当地人口密度以及与未受控制的粪便废物的接近程度；（iv）通过定量微生物风险评估（QMRA），与通过AMB途径潜在暴露于病原体相关的感染风险。这项工作将扩大我们对肠道病原体如何在这些高度污染的环境中释放、传播和控制的理解，在工程和全球公共卫生的交叉点创造新的知识。

PI Name: Joe BrownProposal Number: 1653226Many cities, especially in developing countries, have poor sanitation infrastructure characterized by a number of interconnected problems, including uncontained wastewater flows, lack of functional sewerage networks, open sewers, poor drainage, highly contaminated urban waterways, inadequate treatment of wastewater, and unsafe disposal of biosolids. Residents of cities with poor sanitation are exposed to a range of pathogens via a number of pathways, contributing to a high burden of disease. One pathway that has not yet been adequately characterized in these settings is the aeromicrobiological (AMB) pathway: the transport of pathogens in aerosols where uncontained fecal waste exists in close proximity to population centers. In this project the PI aims to advance our understanding of the role bioaerosols play in transmission of pathogens in these environments. Findings will be applicable to many settings in the US and other developed countries as well; these settings include areas of intensive animal agriculture, wastewater infrastructure, and biosolids management. Field studies will be integrated with innovative, hands-on, undergraduate engineering courses focused on environmental problems affecting global public health in underserved communities.The PI seeks to determine whether bioaerosols represent a source of persistent exposure to enteric pathogens in cities with poor sanitation. The objectives of a series of studies are to determine: (i) the prevalence, concentration, and potential viability of important human enteric pathogens in air samples from three cities in the developing world representing a range of conditions, across seasons and multiple years, via culture-dependent and culture-independent methods; (ii) particle size and source apportionment of aerosols containing enteric pathogens to develop models for transport and exposure; (iii) environmental and built environment variables that may be associated with the presence, concentration, and viability of these pathogens, including season, temperature and relative humidity, rainfall events, localized population density, and proximity to uncontained fecal wastes; and (iv) infection risks associated with potential exposures to pathogens through the AMB pathway, via quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). This work will expand our understanding of how enteric pathogens are released, transmitted, and controlled in these highly contaminated settings, creating new knowledge at the intersection of engineering and global public health.