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Occurrence of host-associated fecal markers on child hands, household soil, and drinking water in rural Bangladeshi households
Citation:
Boehm, A., D. Wang, A. Ercumen, M. Shea, A. Harris, O. Shanks, C. Kelty, A. Ahmed, Z. Mahmud, B. Arnold, C. Chase, C. Kullman, R. Ahmed, J. Colford, Jr., S. Luby, AND A. Pickering. Occurrence of host-associated fecal markers on child hands, household soil, and drinking water in rural Bangladeshi households. Environmental Science & Technology Letters. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 3(11):393-398, (2016).
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Improper feces disposal can lead to environmental contamination and enteric disease transmission. Using the platform of a randomized controlled trial, we evaluated whether provision of improved sanitation hardware (toilets and child feces management tools) and associated behavior change messaging reduces fecal contamination of drinking water, child hands, and soil among rural compounds in Bangladesh. We used host-associated genetic markers of human, ruminant, and avian feces, as well as rotavirus, as outcome measures. Detection of human-associated fecal markers and rotavirus was rare and unchanged by provision of improved sanitation. We found evidence of widespread ruminant and avian fecal contamination in the compound environment; non-human fecal marker occurrence generally scaled with animal ownership. The sanitation intervention reduced ruminant fecal contamination in drinking water and general (non-host specific) fecal contamination in soil. Strategies to control non-human fecal waste should be considered when designing interventions to reduce exposure to fecal contamination in low-income settings.
URLs/Downloads:
Free access through PubMed Central
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00382