Isolated Wastewater Bacteria

Infections with antimicrobial resistant organisms are an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and an ever-growing public health concern. The ability of tracking the geographical distribution and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AR) allows the implementation of infection prevention strategies such as targeted admission screenings. Localization of specific threats is also useful in raising awareness in the healthcare community. Here we present preliminary data on the use of wastewater samples to create endemicity maps of established AR threats such as Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacterales (CREs), or to facilitate early detection of non-autochthonous pathogens such as Candida auris.Untreated influent samples from 33 wastewater treatment plants (WTPs) throughout Utah were collected weekly for COVID-19 surveillance and aliquots used for the isolation of CREs and yeasts.