Waterborne Pathogens: Epidemiology, Surveillance, Control and Risk

Dear Colleagues,

Waterborne diseases are a major global problem, associated with high morbidity and mortality, and massive economic costs; they are responsible for between 1.6 and 12 million deaths annually. Although the burden is the highest in developing countries, outbreaks of the disease still occur in developed countries. In the USA, in 2013–2014, 42 drinking water-associated outbreaks were reported, accounting for at least 1006 cases of illness, 124 hospitalizations, and 13 deaths.  In developed countries, waterborne pathogens include classic and emerging bacteria (e.g. pathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Legionella), viruses (e.g. norovirus, adenovirus) and protozoa (Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp.). Emerging pathogens have lately had an increased interest from the scientific community, and they are now considered to be a major microbiologic public health threat, including antibiotic resistant bacteria. The main causes for drinking water contamination can be the intrusion of animal feces or wastewater due to heavy rain; discharge of wastewater into the water source; malfunctioning of the disinfection equipment in the treatment plants and cross-connections; pipe breaks and wastewater intrusion into the network. The environmental monitoring of pathogens in water and wastewater is an essential tool for detecting and preventing or minimizing the further spread of this microorganisms. Currently, conventional methods based on a culture approach are used to detect pathogens, however, they have several limits, including lengthy experimental turnaround times for results. For this reason, in recent decades, alternative tools for the rapid, sensitive, and specific detection of pathogens in water and wastewater samples have been proposed (e.g., real-time PCR, biosensors). Moreover, studies leveraging next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are providing new insights into the ecology of microbially mediated processes that influence pathogen dissemination.

We invite you to submit a review article or original research article related to these issues.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

- Waterborne pathogens occurrence in environment (e.g. wastewater, water distribution system, surface water);

- Risk assessment of waterborne pathogens;

- Effectiveness of control procedures in reducing waterborne pathogens contamination; 

- New methods for the detection of waterborne pathogen;

- Role of climate changes in waterborne pathogen spreading.

Dr. Silvia Bonetta
Dr. Sara Bonetta
Collection Editors

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