ArticlePloS one2021
The utility of Escherichia coli as a contamination indicator for rural drinking water: Evidence from whole genome sequencing.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 86 citations in OpenAlex.
- Longitudinal Effects of a Sanitation Intervention on Environmental Fecal Contamination in a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural Bangladesh.Environmental science & technology · 2021Trial
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- Biosafety implications of cadaver preservation methods in veterinary anatomy education.Veterinary research communications · 2026Review
- Mycofilters and the Effectiveness of Mycofiltration in the Removal of Contaminants in Water-A Systematic Review.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- CRISPR-based environmental detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei identifies sanitation gaps and melioidosis risk in northeast Thailand.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Molecular identification ofOpen veterinary journal · 2026Article
- Characteristics of the Gut Microbiota in Different Segments of the Gastrointestinal Tract of Big-Eyed Bamboo Snake (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Assessment ofJournal of water and health · 2025Article
- Occurrence of antimicrobial resistance, integrons and virulence genes in Escherichia coli isolated from drinking water in Van, Turkiye: a cross-sectional study.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Impact of land-use and fecal contamination on Escherichia populations in environmental samples.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- New Campylobacter Lineages in New Zealand Freshwater: Pathogenesis and Public Health Implications.Environmental microbiology · 2024Article
- Article
- Assessing fecal contamination from human and environmental sources usingmedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Population structure and pathogen interaction of Escherichia coli in freshwater: Implications of land-use for water quality and public health in Aotearoa New Zealand.Environmental microbiology reports · 2024Article
- Antimicrobial resistance detection methods in water environments: a scoping review.Sustainable microbiology · 2024Review
- Assessing fecal contamination from human and environmental sources usingFrontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Efficiency of a non-recycling postharvest fungicide drencher to enhance management of apple decay and food safety.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Water Quality Index and Human Health Risk Assessment of Drinking Water in Selected Urban Areas of a Mega City.Toxics · 2023Article
- Occurrence of waterborne pathogens and antibiotic resistance in water supply systems in a small town in Mozambique.BMC microbiology · 2022Article
- Fear, Efficacy, and Environmental Health Risk Reporting: Complex Responses to Water Quality Test Results in Low-Income Communities.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Across the water sector, Escherichia coli is the preferred microbial water quality indicator and current guidance upholds that it indicates recent faecal contamination. This has been challenged, however, by research demonstrating growth of E. coli in the environment. In this study, we used whole genome sequencing to investigate the links between E. coli and recent faecal contamination in drinking water. We sequenced 103 E. coli isolates sampled from 9 water supplies in rural Kitui County, Kenya, including points of collection (n = 14) and use (n = 30). Biomarkers for definitive source tracking remain elusive, so we analysed the phylogenetic grouping, multi-locus sequence types (MLSTs), allelic diversity, and virulence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes of the isolates for insight into their likely source. Phylogroup B1, which is generally better adapted to water environments, is dominant in our samples (n = 69) and allelic diversity differences (z = 2.12, p = 0.03) suggest that naturalised populations may be particularly relevant at collection points with lower E. coli concentrations (<50 / 100mL). The strains that are more likely to have originated from human and/or recent faecal contamination (n = 50), were found at poorly protected collection points (4 sites) or at points of use (12 sites). We discuss the difficulty of interpreting health risk from E. coli grab samples, especially at household level, and our findings support the use of E. coli risk categories and encourage monitoring that accounts for sanitary conditions and temporal variability.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.