SENTINEL

The purpose of this project activity is to set up a system of population-wide monitoring of the public health status of Larnaca, through the surveillance of pathogenic microorganisms and of antibiotic resistance determinants that are of human health concern in urban wastewater. To this end, systematic sampling will be performed every two weeks by Nireas-IWRC in collaboration with the Larnaca Sewerage Drainage Board (LSDB), and samples will be analysed using advanced molecular biology techniques such as full-genome sequencing and digital quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction (qPCR) analysis, to research the presence and concentration of pathogenic microorganisms and antibiotic resistance determinants (i.e. antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)) of human health concern in influent and effluent urban wastewater. The information given by the influent wastewater will provide important research information on the infection status of the investigated Larnaca areas that may include clinical or urban facilities. Moreover, the collected information in treated effluents that are intended for irrigation purposes, will be used to conduct human health and ecological quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRA), to provide a clear snapshot of the risks to humans and the ecological environment of the city of Larnaca. Overall, this research project will provide a deeper understanding of the city health status through the comprehension of the associations and temporal trends that exist among clinical infection cases, ESKAPE pathogens and antibiotic-resistant infections found in urban wastewater.