Md Lasim Asmalia, Mohd Ngesom Ahmad Mohiddin, Nathan Sheila, Abdul Razak Fatimah, Abdul Halim Mardani, Mohd-Saleh Wardah, Zainul Abidin Kamaruddin, Mohd-Taib Farah Shafawati
Department of Herbal Medicine Research Centre, Insitute for Medical Research, Setia Alam, Malaysia.
Department of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia.
PeerJ. 2024 Apr 29;12:e17096. doi: 10.7717/peerj.17096. eCollection 2024.
Leptospirosis is a water-related zoonotic disease. The disease is primarily transmitted from animals to humans through pathogenic bacteria in contaminated water and soil. Rivers have a critical role in transmissions, while co-infection potentials with other waterborne bacteria might increase the severity and death risk of the disease.
The water samples evaluated in this study were collected from four recreational forest rivers, Sungai Congkak, Sungai Lopo, Hulu Perdik, and Gunung Nuang. The samples were subjected to next-generation sequencing (NGS) for the 16S rRNA and in-depth metagenomic analysis of the bacterial communities.
The water samples recorded various bacterial diversity. The samples from the Hulu Perdik and Sungai Lopo downstream sampling sites had a more significant diversity, followed by Sungai Congkak. Conversely, the upstream samples from Gunung Nuang exhibited the lowest bacterial diversity. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Acidobacteria were the dominant phyla detected in downstream areas. Potential pathogenic bacteria belonging to the genera Burkholderiales and Serratia were also identified, raising concerns about co-infection possibilities. Nevertheless, pathogenic bacteria were absent from all sites, which is attributable to its limited persistence. The bacteria might also be washed to other locations, contributing to the reduced environmental bacterial load.
The present study established the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the river ecosystems assessed. The findings offer valuable insights for designing strategies for preventing pathogenic bacteria environmental contamination and managing leptospirosis co-infections with other human diseases. Furthermore, closely monitoring water sample compositions with diverse approaches, including sentinel programs, wastewater-based epidemiology, and clinical surveillance, enables disease transmission and outbreak early detections. The data also provides valuable information for suitable treatments and long-term strategies for combating infectious diseases.
钩端螺旋体病是一种与水相关的人畜共患病。该疾病主要通过受污染的水和土壤中的致病细菌从动物传播给人类。河流在传播过程中起着关键作用，而与其他水传播细菌的共感染可能性可能会增加疾病的严重程度和死亡风险。
本研究评估的水样采集自四条休闲森林河流，即双溪聪加克河、双溪洛波河、 Hulu Perdik河和努昂山河流。对样本进行16S rRNA的下一代测序（NGS）和细菌群落的深度宏基因组分析。
水样记录了各种细菌多样性。 Hulu Perdik河和双溪洛波河下游采样点的样本具有更显著的多样性，其次是双溪聪加克河。相反，努昂山河流的上游样本显示出最低的细菌多样性。变形菌门、厚壁菌门和酸杆菌门是在下游地区检测到的主要门类。还鉴定出了属于伯克霍尔德菌属和沙雷氏菌属的潜在致病细菌，这引发了对共感染可能性的担忧。然而，所有采样点均未发现致病细菌，这可能是由于其持久性有限。这些细菌也可能被冲到其他地方，导致环境细菌负荷降低。
本研究证实了在所评估的河流生态系统中存在致病细菌。这些发现为设计预防致病细菌环境污染和管理钩端螺旋体病与其他人类疾病共感染的策略提供了有价值的见解。此外，通过多种方法密切监测水样成分，包括哨点计划、基于废水的流行病学和临床监测，能够早期发现疾病传播和疫情爆发。这些数据还为合适的治疗方法和抗击传染病的长期策略提供了有价值的信息。
