Following the Microbes in Maputo, Mozambique: The Maputo  Sanitation Trial 

Speaker: Drew Capone, Ph.D., Post-Doc, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, UNC-Chapel Hill

Summary: The Maputo Sanitation (MapSan) Trial is a controlled before-and-after evaluation of a shared onsite  sanitation intervention in urban Maputo, Mozambique. Intervention compounds (i.e., clusters of  households) received a pour flush to septic tank system with a soakaway pit for subsurface infiltration  of aqueous effluent, while control compounds continued using existing shared sanitation. During trial  baseline and the 12-month and 24-month follow-up periods we collected soils, flies, and fecal  sludges from the living environment of trial compounds. We evaluated samples using culture,  microscopy, and molecular methods to evaluate the impact of the intervention on environmental fecal  contamination and advance our understanding of the fate and transport of enteric pathogens in low income urban environments. We found that the intervention reduced the presence of some fecal  contamination in the domestic environment, but pathogen detection remained prevalent 24 months  following the introduction of new latrines. Using quantitative microbial risk assessment, we estimated  infection risk from exposure to fecally contaminated soils was high for infants and children. Modelling  source apportionment of fecal wastes suggested that the daily transport of small quantities of child  feces or infrequent transport of moderate amounts of fecal sludges could plausibly explain observed  fecal contamination in soils. Together, these results suggest a sustainable environmental response to  the risks posed by fecal-oral pathogens in low-income urban settings will require policies and  strategies capable of achieving a nearly complete reduction in the feces transported to the living  environment.

Join in person at Fitts-Woolard Hall Room 2321 or virtually via Zoom: go.ncsu.edu/ewcseminar

This is a joint presentation from Environmental Water Resources and Coastal Engineering Seminar NC State University Global WaSH Cluster Speaker Series