Building-Level Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Occupied University Dormitories as an Outbreak Forecasting Tool: One Year Case Study.

Congregate living poses one of the highest risk situations for the transmission of respiratory viruses including SARS-CoV-2. University dormitories exemplify such high-risk settings. We demonstrate the value of using building-level SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance as an early warning system to inform when prevalence testing of all building occupants is warranted.

Tracking Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase gene as an indicator of antimicrobial resistance dissemination from a hospital to surface water via a municipal wastewater treatment plant.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria originating from hospitals are ultimately discharged to municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), which may serve as important reservoirs for the spread of antibiotic resistant genes. This study traced and quantified the presence of a rare but clinically relevant antimicrobial resistance gene; Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenamase (KPC)-and the viable organisms (KPCO) which carried this gene in hospital, non-hospital wastewater discharges, various compartments within a municipal WWTP, receiving water and sediment samples. High concentration of the gene, bla harbored in viable and multispecies KPCO was detected in the hospital wastewater and in the forepart stages of the WWTP, but was not detected in the final effluent following UV disinfection.

Supplemental nutrients stimulate the amplification of carbapenemase-producing (CPKP) in a sink drain biofilm reactor model.

Liquid wastes (LW) disposed in hospital handwashing sinks may affect colonization of sink P-traps by carbapenemase-producing (CPKP), causing CPKP dispersal into the patient care environment. This study aimed to determine the effect of LW on biofilm formation and CPKP colonization in a P-Trap model (PTM). PTMs containing polymicrobial biofilms grown in autoclaved municipal tap water (ATW) supplemented with 5% dextrose in water (D5W), nutritional shake (Shake), sugar-based soft drink (Soda), or ATW were inoculated with ST258 KPC+ (ST258) or CAV1016 (CAV1016) and sampled after 7, 14, and 21 d.

Development of Wastewater Pooled Surveillance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from Congregate Living Settings.

Wastewater-based monitoring for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) at the individual building level could be an efficient, passive means of early detection of new cases in congregate living settings, but this approach has not been validated. Preliminary samples were collected from a hospital and a local municipal wastewater treatment plant. Molecular diagnostic methods were compared side by side to assess feasibility, performance, and sensitivity.

Colonization of carbapenem-resistant in a sink-drain model biofilm system.

Background: Sink drains in healthcare facilities may provide an environment for antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms, including carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (CPKP).

Methods: We investigated the colonization of a biofilm consortia by CPKP in a model system simulating a sink-drain P-trap. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) biofilm reactors (CBRs) were inoculated with microbial consortia originally recovered from 2 P-traps collected from separate patient rooms (designated rooms A and B) in a hospital.

Risk Factors Associated with Carbapenemase-Producing (CPE) Positivity in the Hospital Wastewater Environment.

Hospital wastewater is an increasingly recognized reservoir for resistant Gram-negative organisms. Factors involved in establishment and persistence of carbapenemase-producing organisms (KPCOs) in hospital wastewater plumbing are unclear. This study was conducted at a hospital with endemic KPCOs linked to wastewater reservoirs and robust patient perirectal screening for silent KPCO carriage.

The Role of in Challenges with Fosfomycin Susceptibility Testing of Multispecies Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing Clinical Isolates.

With multidrug-resistant (MDR) on the rise, a nontoxic antimicrobial agent with a unique mechanism of action such as fosfomycin seems attractive. However, establishing accurate fosfomycin susceptibility testing for non- isolates in a clinical microbiology laboratory remains problematic. We evaluated fosfomycin susceptibility by multiple methods with 96 KPC-producing clinical isolates of multiple strains and species collected at a single center between 2008 and 2016.

Use of a cohorting-unit and systematic surveillance cultures to control a Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Enterobacteriaceae outbreak.

Objective: Describe the epidemiological and molecular characteristics of an outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing organisms and the novel use of a cohorting unit for its control.

Design: Observational study.

Setting: A 566-room academic teaching facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Provides a Window into Carbapenemase Gene Transfer, Plasmid Rearrangements, and Patient Interactions with the Hospital Environment.

Several emerging pathogens have arisen as a result of selection pressures exerted by modern health care. was recently defined as a new species, yet its prevalence, niche, and propensity to acquire antimicrobial resistance genes are not fully described. We have been tracking inter- and intraspecies transmission of the carbapenemase (KPC) gene, , between bacteria isolated from a single institution.

Droplet- Rather than Aerosol-Mediated Dispersion Is the Primary Mechanism of Bacterial Transmission from Contaminated Hand-Washing Sink Traps.

An alarming rise in hospital outbreaks implicating hand-washing sinks has led to widespread acknowledgment that sinks are a major reservoir of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in patient care areas. An earlier study using green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing (GFP-) as a model organism demonstrated dispersal from drain biofilms in contaminated sinks. The present study further characterizes the dispersal of microorganisms from contaminated sinks.

Intensive Care Unit Wastewater Interventions to Prevent Transmission of Multispecies Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing Organisms.

Background: The increasing prevalence of nosocomial carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae is a concern. However, the role of the environment in multispecies outbreaks remains poorly understood. There is increasing recognition that hospital wastewater plumbing may play a role.

Spread from the Sink to the Patient: Study Using Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-Expressing Escherichia coli To Model Bacterial Dispersion from Hand-Washing Sink-Trap Reservoirs.

There have been an increasing number of reports implicating as often carrying genes of drug resistance from colonized sink traps to vulnerable hospitalized patients. However, the mechanism of transmission from the wastewater of the sink P-trap to patients remains poorly understood. Herein we report the use of a designated hand-washing sink lab gallery to model dispersion of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing from sink wastewater to the surrounding environment.

The Hospital Water Environment as a Reservoir for Carbapenem-Resistant Organisms Causing Hospital-Acquired Infections-A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Over the last 20 years there have been 32 reports of carbapenem-resistant organisms in the hospital water environment, with half of these occurring since 2010. The majority of these reports have described associated clinical outbreaks in the intensive care setting, affecting the critically ill and the immunocompromised. Drains, sinks, and faucets were most frequently colonized, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa the predominant organism.

Carbon mass balance and microbial ecology in a laboratory scale reactor achieving simultaneous sludge reduction and nutrient removal.

Solids reduction in activated sludge processes (ASP) at source using process manipulation has been researched widely over the last two-decades. However, the absence of nutrient removal component, lack of understanding on the organic carbon, and limited information on key microbial community in solids minimizing ASP preclude the widespread acceptance of sludge minimizing processes. In this manuscript, we report simultaneous solids reduction through anaerobiosis along with nitrogen and phosphorus removals.

Anaerobic ammonia oxidation (ANAMMOX) for side-stream treatment of anaerobic digester filtrate process performance and microbiology.

A laboratory scale semi-batch fed anaerobic ammonia oxidation (ANAMMOX) reactor was operated in the lab under two different feeding operations. In the first scenario, termed as phase I, the reactor was seeded and operated with NO(2) -N added externally with the filtrate to the reactor in the ratio needed for the successful ANAMMOX. A second reactor was also initiated shortly after the start-up of the ANAMMOX to accomplish partial nitrification (nitritation reactor) to generate NO(2) -N.

Bacteriophage-based biocontrol of biological sludge bulking in wastewater.

In a previous paper, the first ever application of lytic bacteriophage (virus)-mediated biocontrol of biomass bulking in the activated sludge process using Haliscomenobacter hydrossis as a model filamentous bacterium was demonstrated. In this work we extended the biocontrol application to another predominant filamentous bacterium, Sphaerotilus natans, notoriously known to cause filamentous bulking in wastewater treatment systems. Very similar to previous study, one lytic bacteriophage was isolated from wastewater that could infect S.

Improvement of biohydrogen production by Enterobacter cloacae IIT-BT 08 under regulated pH.

The present study investigates the effect of pH and intermediate products formation on biological hydrogen production using Enterobacter cloacae IIT-BT 08. Initial pH was found to have a profound effect on hydrogen production potential, while regulating the pH 6.5 throughout the fermentation was found to increase the cumulative hydrogen production rate and yield significantly.

Seasonal variations of nitrifying community in trickling filter-solids contact (TF/SC) activated sludge systems.

Two full-scale trickling filter/solids contact (TF/SC) basin plants, each successfully performing nitrification, were sampled throughout various seasons over a period of one year. Concentrations of ammonia, nitrate and nitrite were measured at various sampling locations along the treatment train. DNA was also extracted from mixed liquor in the solids contact basins.

Biocontrol of biomass bulking caused by Haliscomenobacter hydrossis using a newly isolated lytic bacteriophage.

This research demonstrates the first ever application of lytic bacteriophage (virus) mediated biocontrol of biomass bulking in the activated sludge process using Haliscomenobacter hydrossis as a model filamentous bacterium. Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect bacteria only. The lytic phage specifically infecting H.

Various physico-chemical stress factors cause prophage induction in Nitrosospira multiformis 25196--an ammonia oxidizing bacteria.

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and contribute significant changes in the overall bacterial community. Prophages are formed when temperate bacteriophages integrate their DNA into the bacterial chromosome during the lysogenic cycle of the phage infection to bacteria. The prophage (phage DNA integrated into bacterial genome) on the bacterial genome remains dormant, but can cause cell lysis under certain environmental conditions.

Microbial hydrogen production with Bacillus coagulans IIT-BT S1 isolated from anaerobic sewage sludge.

Bacillus coagulans strain IIT-BT S1 isolated from anaerobically digested activated sewage sludge was investigated for its ability to produce H(2) from glucose-based medium under the influence of different environmental parameters. At mid-exponential phase of cell growth, H(2) production initiated and reached maximum production rate in the stationary phase. The maximal H(2) yield (2.

Alkaline lipase production by Citrobacter freundii IIT-BT L139.

Around 150 lipase producing bacterial isolates were screened from the local soils enriched with oil. Citrobacrer freundii IIT-BT L139, an isolated microbial strain, produced lipase that had high activity (8.8 U/ml) at pH 9.