Trends in Microbiome and Digital One Health

Abstract:

Mass gatherings are events in which large congregations happen during a relatively short duration. Hajj, an annual ritual, draws an assembly of approximately two million pilgrims from across the globe, while Umrah draws a comparatively reduced congregation but the pilgrims arrive throughout the year to Saudi Arabia. These global pilgrims can be carriers of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes, which are in turn disseminated from the host into the sewage. It is hypothesized that a large influx of global pilgrims to a common location can potentially result in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) into the environment and potentially back to human hosts if the sewage is not properly treated. In this presentation, we provide evidence of the dissemination of AMR into the wastewater as a result of mass gatherings. We then compared the genome of a pathogenic E. coli strain that was isolated from the wastewater and was positive of New Delhi metallo-beta lactamase gene against a small collection of uropathogenic E. coli isolates collected at around the same time. The comparison is to determine if there is evidence of a potential transfer from wastewater to clinically diagnosed cases. This presentation aims to highlight the role of international travel and cross-border transmission of AMR due to mass gatherings, and to urge for an enhanced surveillance program that can alleviate potential detrimental impact arising from AMR.