ArticleEnvironmental health and preventive medicine2019
Bacterial contamination of drinking water sources in rural villages of Mohale Basin, Lesotho: exposures through neighbourhood sanitation and hygiene practices.
Article in Environmental health and preventive medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 141 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bacteriological quality of drinking water and its associated factors in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence and epidemiological distribution of indicators of pathogenic bacteria in households drinking water in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Determinants of diarrhoeal diseases among under-five children in Africa (2013-2023): a comprehensive systematic review highlighting geographic variances, socioeconomic influences, and environmental factors.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Beyond access: WASH, public health, and sustainable development priorities in Africa-a narrative review.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Review
- Hydroclimatic extremes indexed by SPI and malaria case dynamics in Oyo State, Nigeria: evidence for lagged, site-specific effects.Journal of water and health · 2026Article
- Examining awareness, implementation, and challenges of sustainable development goal 6 in rural Osun State, Nigeria.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Bacterial diversity, quantitative risk assessment of spring waterborne pathogens and their biocontrol through phyto-biosorbents.PloS one · 2026Article
- One Health-related risk factors and seasonal variations in zoonotic bacteriological contamination of livestock water sources.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Microbiological and Physicochemical Assessment of Untreated Borehole Water in Residential Areas of Kubang Kerian, Kelantan.The Malaysian journal of medical sciences : MJMS · 2025Article
- Enterobacterales and Antimicrobial Resistance in Feed, Water, and Slurry in Pig Production Farms in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, 2024.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2025Article
- Laser-Prepared ZnO-Ag Nanoparticles with High Light-Enhanced Antibacterial Activity.Materials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Identification, Comparison, and Profiling of Selected Diarrhoeagenic Pathogens from Diverse Water Sources and Human and Animal Faeces Using Whole-Genome Sequencing.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Article
- Modeling solutions for microbial water contamination in the global south for public health protection.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Prevalence, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Risk Factors of Enteric Bacterial Infections Among Children Under Five in Nairobi County, Kenya.International journal of microbiology · 2025Article
- Bacteriophage-Activated DNAzyme Hydrogels Combined with Machine Learning Enable Point-of-Use Colorimetric Detection of Escherichia coli.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2025Article
- Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices in Africa: exploring the effects on public health and sustainable development plans.Tropical medicine and health · 2024Review
- Microbiological safety assessment of ready-to-eat cooked foods in the Addis Ababa School Feeding Program, Ethiopia.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Food safety knowledge and practices among raw meat handlers and the microbial content of raw meat sold at Kumasi Abattoir Butchery Shops in Kumasi, Ghana.BMC public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBacterial contamination of drinking water is a major public health problem in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Unimproved water sources are a major reservoir of Escherichia coli (E. coli) causing severe diarrhoea in humans. This study assessed E. coli counts in drinking water from different sources and their relationship with water source protection status and neighbourhood sanitation and hygiene practices in rural villages of Mohale Basin in Lesotho.
methodsThirty drinking water sources were purposively sampled and their water analysed for E. coli counts. The types of water sources, their protection status and neighbourhood sanitation and hygiene practices in their proximity were also assessed. E. coli counts in water samples were compared to water source protection status, neighbourhood sanitation, hygiene practices, livestock faeces and latrine proximity to water sources.
resultsE. coli counts were found in all water samples and ranged from less than 30 colony-forming units (cfu)/100 ml to 4800 cfu/100 ml in protected sources to 43,500,000 cfu/100 ml in unprotected sources. A significant association between E. coli counts in drinking water samples and lack of water source protection, high prevalence of open defecation (59%, n = 100), unhygienic practices, livestock faeces and latrine detections in proximity to water sources was found in the study (P < 0.05).
conclusionWater sources in studied villages were contaminated with faeces and posed a health risk to consumers of that water. Community-led sanitation and hygiene education and better water source protection are urgently needed.
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Registered trials
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