Microbial Contamination in Environmental Waters of Rural and Agriculturally-Dominated Landscapes Following Hurricane Florence

Abstract

Hurricane Florence brought unprecedented rainfall and flooding to Eastern North Carolina in 2018. Extensive flooding had the potential to mobilize microbial contaminants from a variety of sources. Our study evaluated microbial contaminants in surface waters at 40 sites across Eastern North Carolina 1 week after the hurricane made landfall (Phase 1) and one month later (Phase 2). High concentrations of Escherichia coli were detected in flowing channel and floodwater samples across both phases; however, channel samples during Phase 2 had higher concentrations of E. coli compared to Phase 1. Human- and swine-associated fecal markers were detected in 26% and 9% of samples, respectively, with no trends related to phase of sampling. Arcobacter butzleri was previously shown to be recovered from most (73%) samples, and detection of this pathogen was not associated with any source-associated fecal marker. Detection of Listeria spp. was associated with the swine-associated fecal marker. These results suggest that improved swine and human feces management should be explored to prevent microbial contamination in surface water, especially in regions where extreme rainfall may increase due to climate change. Sampling at higher frequency surrounding rainfall events would provide more detailed characterization of the risks posed by floodwater at different time scales and under different antecedent conditions.

Local and Environmental Reservoirs ofSalmonella entericaAfter Hurricane Florence Flooding

“…Because Salmonella can survive in the soil for up to 216 days (Alegbeleye & Sant'Ana, 2023), this delay in sampling is not likely to reduce S. enterica concentrations in the water bodies near the swine farms. Harris et al (2021) examined water samples collected one and 5 weeks after Hurricane Florence in the same region. No significant differences were found for Salmonella and Arcobacter prevalence between their 1-and 5-week sampling points.…”

“…qPCR for conserved chromosomal genes has been used to identify elevated levels of pathogen indicators and fecal contaminants in water samples after flooding events caused by Hurricanes Harvey (Texas) (Moghadam et al, 2022;P. Yu et al, 2018) and Florence (North Carolina (NC)) (Harris et al, 2021;Niedermeyer et al, 2020). While these culture-independent and genomic approaches can identify the abundance of a pathogen, they do not have the genetic resolution to identify the source.…”

Do animal husbandry operations contaminate groundwater sources with antimicrobial resistance: Systematic review

“…Our ndings indicate that, while contamination of groundwater from animal husbandry operations can occur under both rainy and dry conditions, there is some evidence that contamination is more pronounced during periods of increased rainfall. Widespread fecal contamination from animal husbandry operations has been previously reported in waterbodies in the wake of extreme weather events and hurricanes through breaching and ooding of lagoons (Wing et al 2002;Harris et al 2021). Rainfall can also lead to increased runoff from elds where manure from animal husbandry operations has been applied (Thurston-Enriquez et al 2005).…”

Reciprocal Inclusion of Microbiomes and Environmental Justice Contributes Solutions to Global Environmental Health Challenges

“…Global change factors uncouple microbial biodiversity and ecological functions ( 42 ), which may negatively impact the resilience of these ecosystems to increasingly frequent and catastrophic disturbance events. These disturbance events, like hurricanes or fires, are also sites of environmental injustice as they disproportionately burden underserved communities ( 27 , 43 ). Long-term ecosystem and societal sustainability necessitates centering environmental microbes and understanding how they both contribute to and are affected by global change ( 26 ).…”