Researchers from the University of South Florida in Tampa have detected antibiotic-resistant bacteria in wastewater that gushed into neighborhoods in St. Petersburg, Fla., and the Boca Ciega Bay at a rate of 250 to 500 gallons per minute after a sewer line break in September 2014, according to a study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
For the study, researchers sampled the wastewater for seven weeks after the spill. Approximately 500,000 gallons of untreated sewage were released during the incident. In the samples, researchers detected vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Researchers also found that this particular strain of VRE contained a gene capable of transferring its antibiotic resistance to other strains of bacteria.
The findings carry particularly disturbing implications for the Tampa Bay community as the likelihood for future sewage spills is high due to an aging sewer infrastructure and an in increase in stormwater flooding after severe rain storms.
"While we have known that raw sewage contains many disease-causing bacteria, this experience tells us that sewage and fecal pollution also carry vancomycin-resistant bacteria," said Valerie Harwood, PhD, a professor in the USF Department of Integrative Biology and study co-author. "Most VRE are confined to hospitals, but detecting them in waters of the Tampa Bay community is quite concerning. People need to be aware of what may be entering the water after heavy rains, accidental spills or after intentional sewage releases."
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