Diarrheal bacterial pathogens and multi-resistant enterobacteria in the Choqueyapu River in La Paz, Bolivia

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 1; p. e0210735
• Main Authors: Guzman-Otazo, Jessica, Gonzales-Siles, Lucia, Poma, Violeta, Bengtsson-Palme, Johan, Thorell, Kaisa, Flach, Carl-Fredrik, Iñiguez, Volga, Sjöling, Åsa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 14.01.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural pollution; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; antimicrobial resistance; assays; Bacteria; beta-lactamase genes; beta-Lactamases - genetics; Biology; Biology and Life Sciences; Bolivia; Chemotherapy; Cloning; Contamination; Crops; ctx-m; Diarrhea; Diarrhea - microbiology; Disease transmission; Drinking water; Drug resistance; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial - genetics; E coli; Earth Sciences; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Enterobacter cloacae; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriaceae - drug effects; Enterobacteriaceae - enzymology; Enterobacteriaceae - genetics; Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli; Food contamination & poisoning; Gene sequencing; Genes; Genomes; Health risks; Humans; Infectious diseases; Infectious Medicine; Infektionsmedicin; Irrigation; Irrigation water; Klebsiella; klebsiella-pneumoniae; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine and Health Sciences; Microbial drug resistance; molecular characterization; multiplex pcr; Pathogens; Polymerase chain reaction; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Research and Analysis Methods; Risk factors; River basins; Rivers; Rivers - microbiology; Salmonella; Science & Technology - Other Topics; Sediments; Sewage; Soil analysis; Soil contamination; Soil temperature; Soil water; Vegetables; waste-water; Water conductivity; Water pollution; Water temperature; Water treatment; water-quality; Whole Genome Sequencing; Bolivia; Sweden
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210735

Water borne diarrheal pathogens might accumulate in river water and cause contamination of drinking and irrigation water. The La Paz River basin, including the Choqueyapu River, flows through La Paz city in Bolivia where it is receiving sewage, and residues from inhabitants, hospitals, and industry. Using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), we determined the quantity and occurrence of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC), Salmonella enterica, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella spp. and total enterobacteria in river water, downstream agricultural soil, and irrigated crops, during one year of sampling. The most abundant and frequently detected genes were gapA and eltB, indicating presence of enterobacteria and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) carrying the heat labile toxin, respectively. Pathogen levels in the samples were significantly positively associated with high water conductivity and low water temperature. In addition, a set of bacterial isolates from water, soil and crops were analyzed by PCR for presence of the genes blaCTX-M, blaKPC, blaNDM, blaVIM and blaOXA-48. Four isolates were found to be positive for blaCTX-M genes and whole genome sequencing identified them as E. coli and one Enterobacter cloacae. The E. coli isolates belonged to the emerging, globally disseminated, multi-resistant E. coli lineages ST648, ST410 and ST162. The results indicate not only a high potential risk of transmission of diarrheal diseases by the consumption of contaminated water and vegetables but also the possibility of antibiotic resistance transfer from the environment to the community.