Wastewater Surveillance for Poliovirus in Selected Jurisdictions, United States, 2022-2023.

Wastewater testing can inform public health action as a component of polio outbreak response. During 2022-2023, a total of 7 US jurisdictions (5 states and 2 cities) participated in prospective or retrospective testing of wastewater for poliovirus after a paralytic polio case was identified in New York state. Two distinct vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 viruses were detected in wastewater from New York state and New York City during 2022, representing 2 separate importation events.

Surveillance strategies for the detection of new pathogen variants across epidemiological contexts.

Surveillance systems that monitor pathogen genome sequences are critical for rapidly detecting the introduction and emergence of pathogen variants. To evaluate how interactions between surveillance capacity, variant properties, and the epidemiological context influence the timeliness of pathogen variant detection, we developed a geographically explicit stochastic compartmental model to simulate the transmission of a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant in New York City. We measured the impact of (1) testing and sequencing volume, (2) geographic targeting of testing, (3) the timing and location of variant emergence, and (4) the relative variant transmissibility on detection speed and on the undetected disease burden.

The Use of Wastewater Surveillance to Estimate SARS-CoV-2 Fecal Viral Shedding Pattern and Identify Time Periods with Intensified Transmission.

Background: Wastewater-based surveillance is an important tool for monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it remains challenging to translate wastewater SARS-CoV-2 viral load to infection number, due to unclear shedding patterns in wastewater and potential differences between variants.

Objectives: We utilized comprehensive wastewater surveillance data and estimates of infection prevalence (i.

The role of socio-economic disparities in the relative success and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 variants in New York City in early 2021.

Socio-economic disparities were associated with disproportionate viral incidence between neighborhoods of New York City (NYC) during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2. We investigated how these disparities affected the co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants during the second wave in NYC. We tested for correlation between the prevalence, in late 2020/early 2021, of Alpha, Iota, Iota with E484K mutation (Iota-E484K), and B.

Wastewater Testing and Detection of Poliovirus Type 2 Genetically Linked to Virus Isolated from a Paralytic Polio Case - New York, March 9-October 11, 2022.

In July 2022, a case of paralytic poliomyelitis resulting from infection with vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) type 2 (VDPV2) was confirmed in an unvaccinated adult resident of Rockland County, New York (1). As of August 10, 2022, poliovirus type 2 (PV2) genetically linked to this VDPV2 had been detected in wastewater** in Rockland County and neighboring Orange County (1). This report describes the results of additional poliovirus testing of wastewater samples collected during March 9-October 11, 2022, and tested as of October 20, 2022, from 48 sewersheds (the community area served by a wastewater collection system) serving parts of Rockland County and 12 surrounding counties.

A Series of Papaya-Associated Salmonella Illness Outbreak Investigations in 2017 and 2019: A Focus on Traceback, Laboratory, and Collaborative Efforts.

Abstract: In 2017 and 2019, five outbreaks of infections from multiple strains of Salmonella linked to the consumption of whole, fresh Maradol papayas were reported in the United States, resulting in 325 ill persons. Traceback, laboratory, and epidemiologic evidence indicated papayas as the likely vehicle for each of these outbreaks and identified the source of papayas. State and U.

Salmonellosis Outbreak Detected by Automated Spatiotemporal Analysis - New York City, May-June 2019.

In May 2019, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH) detected an unusual cluster of five salmonellosis patients via automated spatiotemporal analysis of notifiable diseases using free SaTScan software (1). Within 1 day of cluster detection, graduate student interviewers determined that three of the patients had eaten prepared food from the same grocery store (establishment A) located inside the cluster area. NYCDOHMH initiated an investigation to identify additional cases, establish the cause, and provide control recommendations.

Neonatal Conjunctivitis Caused by Neisseria meningitidis US Urethritis Clade, New York, USA, August 2017.

We characterized a case of neonatal conjunctivitis in New York, USA, caused by Neisseria meningitidis by using whole-genome sequencing. The case was a rare occurrence, and the isolate obtained belonged to an emerging clade (N. meningitidis US nongroupable urethritis) associated with an increase in cases of urethritis since 2015.

Microbial and mineral evolution in zero valent iron-based permeable reactive barriers during long-term operations.

Impacts of subsurface biogeochemical processes over time have always been a concern for the long-term performance of zero valent iron (Fe(0))-based permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). To evaluate the biogeochemical impacts, laboratory experiments were performed using flow-through glass columns for 210 days at controlled temperature (20 °C). Two different particle sizes of Fe(0) were used in the columns, and to simulate indigenous microbial activity, extra carbon source was provided in the two columns (biotic columns) and the remaining two columns were kept abiotic using gamma radiations.

Inhibition of sulfate reducing bacteria in aquifer sediment by iron nanoparticles.

Batch microcosms were setup to determine the impact of different sized zero valent iron (Fe(0)) particles on microbial sulfate reduction during the in situ bio-precipitation of metals. The microcosms were constructed with aquifer sediment and groundwater from a low pH (3.1), heavy-metal contaminated aquifer.

Methane-carbon flow into the benthic food web at cold seeps--a case study from the Costa Rica subduction zone.

Cold seep ecosystems can support enormous biomasses of free-living and symbiotic chemoautotrophic organisms that get their energy from the oxidation of methane or sulfide. Most of this biomass derives from animals that are associated with bacterial symbionts, which are able to metabolize the chemical resources provided by the seeping fluids. Often these systems also harbor dense accumulations of non-symbiotic megafauna, which can be relevant in exporting chemosynthetically fixed carbon from seeps to the surrounding deep sea.

Arsenic bioremediation by biogenic iron oxides and sulfides.

Microcosms containing sediment from an aquifer in Cambodia with naturally elevated levels of arsenic in the associated groundwater were used to evaluate the effectiveness of microbially mediated production of iron minerals for in situ As remediation. The microcosms were first incubated without amendments for 28 days, and the release of As and other geogenic chemicals from the sediments into the aqueous phase was monitored. Nitrate or a mixture of sulfate and lactate was then added to stimulate biological Fe(II) oxidation or sulfate reduction, respectively.

The impact of oscillating redox conditions: arsenic immobilisation in contaminated calcareous floodplain soils.

Arsenic contamination of floodplain soils is extensive and additional fresh arsenic inputs to the pedosphere from human activities are ongoing. We investigate the cumulative effects of repetitive soil redox cycles, which occur naturally during flooding and draining, on a calcareous fluvisol, the native microbial community and arsenic mobility following a simulated contamination event. We show through bioreactor experiments, spectroscopic techniques and modelling that repetitive redox cycling can decrease arsenic mobility during reducing conditions by up to 45%.

Biogeochemistry and community composition of iron- and sulfur-precipitating microbial mats at the Chefren mud volcano (Nile Deep Sea Fan, Eastern Mediterranean).

In this study we determined the composition and biogeochemistry of novel, brightly colored, white and orange microbial mats at the surface of a brine seep at the outer rim of the Chefren mud volcano. These mats were interspersed with one another, but their underlying sediment biogeochemistries differed considerably. Microscopy revealed that the white mats were granules composed of elemental S filaments, similar to those produced by the sulfide-oxidizing epsilonproteobacterium "Candidatus Arcobacter sulfidicus.

Diversity and function of Chloroflexus-like bacteria in a hypersaline microbial mat: phylogenetic characterization and impact on aerobic respiration.

We studied the diversity of Chloroflexus-like bacteria (CLB) in a hypersaline phototrophic microbial mat and assayed their near-infrared (NIR) light-dependent oxygen respiration rates. PCR with primers that were reported to specifically target the 16S rRNA gene from members of the phylum Chloroflexi resulted in the recovery of 49 sequences and 16 phylotypes (sequences of the same phylotype share more than 96% similarity), and 10 of the sequences (four phylotypes) appeared to be related to filamentous anoxygenic phototrophic members of the family Chloroflexaceae. Photopigment analysis revealed the presence of bacteriochlorophyll c (BChlc), BChld, and gamma-carotene, pigments known to be produced by phototrophic CLB.

Determination of nitrogen-fixing phylotypes in Lyngbya sp. and Microcoleus chthonoplastes cyanobacterial mats from Guerrero Negro, Baja California, Mexico.

In many environments, biological nitrogen fixation can alleviate nitrogen limitation. The high rates of N(2) fixation often observed in cyanobacterial mats suggest that N(2) fixation may be an important source of N. In this study, organisms expressing nifH were identified in a Lyngbya sp.

Comparison of diazotroph community structure in Lyngbya sp. and Microcoleus chthonoplastes dominated microbial mats from Guerrero Negro, Baja, Mexico.

The nitrogenase activity and phylogenetic diversity of nitrogen fixing microorganisms in several different cyanobacterial mat types from Guerrero Negro, Baja California, Mexico were investigated by acetylene reduction assay, and by amplification and sequencing of the nitrogenase nifH gene. Acetylene reduction assays performed on a Lyngbya sp. and two Microcoleus chthonoplastes dominated microbial mats showed a typical diel pattern of nitrogenase activity in these mats.

Nitrogenase genes in PCR and RT-PCR reagents: implications for studies of diversity of functional genes.

Studies of the diversity of microorganisms in the environment have been facilitated by use of PCR and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Inhibition of the PCR by complex sample matrices and low abundance of some target microorganisms require the use of high-sensitivity amplification procedures, involving a large number of cycles or nested PCR methods. Using these methods, we frequently observed contamination of the amplification reagents, including polymerases, by genomic DNA containing nitrogenase (nifH) and rRNA genes.