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Exploring the distribution of waterborne pathogens Giardia and Cryptosporidium along a land-use gradient in Oregon in the context of One Health

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  • Giardia and Cryptosporidium protozoans are resilient, zoonotic waterborne pathogens that can bypass water treatment and kill millions of people and animals annually. Giardia and Cryptosporidium cysts and oocysts, respectively, can spread through feces; poor sanitation and poverty can increase the risk for giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis diarrheal diseases. We are currently facing many global challenges from the increase of globalization, anthropogenic environmental change, emerging diseases, and the destruction of natural habitats and biodiversity. The One Health concept considers all these attributes by holistically prioritizing human, animal, and environmental health to improve the planet's overall health. Our aim is a multidisciplinary collaboration between healthcare professionals, veterinarians, and students to achieve the One Health principles in the community. We are exploring the distribution of waterborne pathogens Giardia and Crypto to see whether their presence and species abundance changes over a land-use gradient. Forty-three total sites were sampled in Oregon: 24 sites in Mary’s River in the Willamette Valley (western Oregon) and 19 sites along the White River in Tygh Valley (eastern Oregon). These locations and river systems start at undisturbed locations and travel through increasingly disturbed areas where agriculture and urbanization are prominent. One liter of water was collected at each sampling site and filtered through 0.45 µm cellulose nitrate filters later dissolved in acetone. Samples were aliquoted for a Merifluor immunoassay where the presence or absence of Giardia and Crypto were established. Using multilocus genotyping the 18S rRNA gene, β-giardin (bg)gene, triosephosphate isomerase (Tpi) gene, and glutamate dehydrogenase (Gdh) gene will be sequenced using MiSeq sequencing for Giardia. BLAST and Giardia database will be utilized to determine the species of Giardia and the relative abundance of each strain. A generalized linear model will be used to demonstrate the change in relative abundance of Giardia and Crypto species across the land-use gradient. Tygh Valley samples were positive for both Giardia and Cryptosporidium except for one site after Merifluor immunoassay. Mary’s River samples were not determined using Merifluor due to a procedure error, thus, the 18S rRNA gene will be used to PCR screen for the presence of Giardia at these sites. An ANOVA test was performed, results (Giardia and Crypto p-values = 0.684 & 0.507) demonstrated no significance over a land-use gradient for the presence of Giardia and Crypto. The next step is to determine species strain diversity for Giardia. We expect to see higher strain diversity at low disturbance sites because the high disturbance sites may allow strains that predominantly infect humans to outcompete the other strains. Currently, Giardia abundance is our focal point, but Cryptosporidium abundance research is pending. Further analyses are ongoing; however, our future results will demonstrate how human disturbance affects Giardia and Crypto diversity. This will help us determine what populations of animals and people are at risk in Oregon by knowing which strains are in higher abundance where human activity is prominent. It is important to understand the abundance of different assemblages of Giardia across these different land-use distributions by doing routine testing to predict and prevent the risk of outbreaks and disease in the community.
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  • OSU, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
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