Soil-gut microbial associations in rural households

Childhood diarrhea, which is fundamentally a disturbance of the gut microbial ecosystem, can lead to long-term health effects which may impair quality of life, educational performance, and economic productivity. While it is increasingly recognized that the environmental microbiome exerts a strong influence on the gut microbiome, little research has addressed the role this environmental microbial exposure in mediating infectious disease dynamics for communities, such as those in rural western Kenya, that are highly burdened by diarrheal disease. This project targets this gap by characterizing soil microbiota and child gut microbiota among rural households in western Kenya, and investigating the correlation of biotic (microbial) and abiotic environmental factors with child health and diarrheal disease prevalence.