preprint
Household wastewater across seven districts in Gombe State, Nigeria, was analysed to detect World Health Organisation priority bacterial pathogens and assess their antimicrobial resistance profiles. Testing of 320 domestic wastewater samples revealed contamination with clinically significant bacteria, predominantly Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Alarmingly high levels of multidrug resistance were documented, exceeding 70 percent in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 79 percent in Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 84 percent in Escherichia coli. In addition, carbapenem resistance was identified in over 41 percent of priority pathogens, supported by molecular confirmation of critical resistance genes including blaVIM, blaKPC, and blaCTX-M. These findings show that domestic wastewater serves as an active environmental reservoir for bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics, creating severe community transmission risks and underscoring the necessity of targeted environmental surveillance and public health interventions.
Antimicrobial resistance threatens global medicine, particularly when bacteria resist last-resort treatments such as carbapenems. Finding these resistant organisms in everyday domestic wastewater reveals that dangerous pathogens circulate outside hospital walls. This contamination creates an unseen infection risk for local communities, threatens water safety, and highlights an urgent need for upgraded sanitation infrastructure and community-level public health monitoring.
The abstract does not indicate a direct commercial application or product development pathway. The findings represent early-stage environmental surveillance that could inform public sector monitoring programmes, municipal wastewater treatment planning, and diagnostic surveillance services. Public health agencies and environmental testing organisations could use these methods to track community-level resistance trends, though any practical tool or intervention remains at an early, pre-commercial stage.
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Abstract Background: WHO bacterial priority pathogens and ESKAPE organisms in household wastewater pose critical community transmission risks, yet surveillance data from Sub-Saharan Africa remains limited. This study provides the first comprehensive priority pathogen detection and antimicrobial resistance assessment in household wastewater from Gombe State, Nigeria, focusing on organisms of highest clinical concern. Methods: We conducted targeted surveillance for WHO priority pathogens in 320 household wastewater samples across seven districts in Gombe using multi-stage sampling. Some priority gram-negative pathogens (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter spp.) were specifically isolated and characterized. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing followed CLSI 2024 guidelines across 12 antibiotics targeting critical resistance patterns. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase detection focused on priority pathogen isolates with PCR confirmation of key resistance genes. Results: Priority pathogen detection revealed Escherichia coli (131 isolates, 32.6%) as the dominant WHO priority pathogen, followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (77 isolates, 19.2%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (45 isolates, 11.2%). ESKAPE pathogen P. aeruginosa showed 73.3% multidrug resistance with carbapenemase gene detection (blaVIM 60%, blaKPC 20%). Critical priority pathogen K. pneumoniae demonstrated 79.2% MDR prevalence with universal blaCTX-M gene presence (100%) in ESBL producers. Priority pathogen E. coli exhibited an alarming 84.7% MDR rates with widespread ESBL production (51.5%). Carbapenem resistance in priority pathogens reached 41.3%, indicating last-resort antibiotic failure in critical organisms. Conclusions: Household wastewater in Gombe harbors critical WHO priority pathogens and ESKAPE organisms with alarming antimicrobial resistance burden. The detection of carbapenemase-producing priority pathogens in domestic wastewater signals urgent community transmission risks requiring immediate public health intervention and enhanced priority pathogen surveillance strategies.
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DOI: 10.1099/acmi.0.001100.v1
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