Preponderance of Enteric Pathogens Along the Coastal Waters of Southern Kerala, Southwest Coast of India

Preliminary assessment of the water quality of Rushikulya estuary based on the abundance of pathogenic bacteria

Estuaries are among the most dynamic ecosystems in coastal regions and are facing serious threats due to increasing anthropogenic activities. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the water quality of the Rushikulya estuary by analyzing the abundance of pathogenic bacteria in both its water and sediment. Water and sediment samples were collected from five different stations at the mouth of the Rushikulya estuary during the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. These samples were analyzed to assess the abundance of pathogenic bacteria and environmental parameters. The results revealed that bacterial abundance is significantly higher in the sediment than in the water, possibly due to a longer residence time of pathogenic bacteria in the sediment. Seasonal observations indicated an increase in pathogenic bacterial abundance during the monsoon season, suggesting an impact from monsoonal discharge. Escherichia coli-like organism, faecal coliforms, Shigella-like organisms, and Vibrio cholera-like organisms were the dominant pathogenic bacteria in both the water and sediment of the Rushikulya estuary. The higher abundance of these pathogens and the results of statistical analysis, which showed a strong correlation between Total Streptococci and BOD (r = 0.79), indicate the influence of human settlement and the mixing of untreated sewage in the Rushikulya estuary. The elevated levels of E. coli, faecal coliforms, and Shigella-like organisms in the Rushikulya estuary raise significant concerns that require immediate attention.

India to envision One Health movement for confronting emerging health threats: From concept to approach toward institutionalization

The author's key role in advocating and leading One Health (OH) initiatives in India (especially in Kerala), review the need for and progress of OH from concept to approach and proposes its institutionalization as the way forward. India is currently facing many health threats such as antimicrobial resistance, environmental health hazards, and food safety risks and most importantly, zoonotic diseases such as Nipah, Avian Influenza, Scrub typhus, Congo fever, Kyasanur forest disease, COVID-19, and leptospirosis that grossly impact country's economy. The recent pandemics had exposed the gaps in public health policy and government is prepared to commit on the OH approach and to invest more on public health infrastructure. Further, as challenges have increased in recent years, OH approach was clearly advocated by the experts not only to cope up the pandemic but also to manage the infodemic by promoting the timely dissemination of accurate information. Right from the endorsement of OH in 2007 by India's Prime minister to the present fight against COVID-19 pandemic, the actions to control and manage the disease was ideally oriented toward a collaborative approach. Last year (2019), the representatives from relevant ministries and department had a ground-breaking dialog to develop charter and constitute a National policy on OH. Recently, Health Ministers of the Member States of the World Health Organization South-East Asia signed "Delhi declaration" where the key essence was to implement intersectoral coordination mechanisms following the "OH" approach. India's future policy intervention will emphasize on strengthening of integrated public health labs and contributing to building a national institutional platform for OH to boost research initiatives. Taking stock of OH happenings, resources, challenges, and priorities, the implementation strategy has been proposed across human, animal and environmental health. The article further highlights the key areas that need OH intervention in India, the country's progress in OH and the success stories of OH for a sustainable action to confront emerging health threats.

Perennial occurrence of heterotrophic, indicator and pathogenic bacteria in the coastal Bay of Bengal (off Visakhapatnam) - Impact of physical and atmospheric processes

In order to examine the health of the coastal waters off Visakhapatnam in terms of prevalence and abundance of heterotrophic (H), indicator and pathogenic (P) bacterial counts (BC) and influence of physical processes on them, time-series observations were conducted during January (winter), March (spring), July (summer) and October (post-monsoon). We noticed the impact of physical forces on substantial variations in abundance and distribution of the HBC, total coliforms, Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the study region. Based on our results Escherichia coli and other PBC were not much influenced by the physical conditions. It has been noticed that the perennial existence of the high abundance of IBC and PBC above the standard limits during the entire study period leading to an alarming situation in the coastal waters off Visakhapatnam.