Makerere University presents SaniPath results from Kampala at UNC Water & Health Conference

Dr. Richard Mugambe from Makerere University in Uganda presented findings from the SaniPath Exposure Assessment performed in Kampala, Uganda at a poster session during the UNC Water and Health Conference in October 2020. This was the first assessment of fecal contamination performed in low-income neighborhoods in Kampala, Uganda. The findings highlighted the important connection between poor sanitation and hygiene conditions and fecal contamination of street food and raw produce.

Poster PDF:

Mugambe et al. UNC Water and Health Conf

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To visit the UNC Water and Health Conference website which includes 1 minute introduction to the poster by Dr. Mugambe, click here.

Comparison of SaniPath Exposure Assessments in Low-Income Urban Areas in Eight Countries

UNC Water and Health Conference

Presenter: Wolfgang Mairinger

The SaniPath exposure assessment tool compares risks of exposure to fecal contamination in urban environments across multiple exposure pathways. The tool has been deployed in 39 neighborhoods in 8 cities: Accra, Ghana, Vellore, India; Maputo, Mozambique; Siem Reap, Cambodia; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Atlanta, United States; Lusaka, Zambia; and Kampala, Uganda. Ten exposure pathways were investigated (open drains, ocean water, surface water, floodwater, public latrines, soil, bathing water, raw produce, drinking water, and street food) through behavior surveys and environmental sample analyses. Exposure was expressed as monthly dose (average amount of fecal contamination ingested as measured by E. coli colony-forming units [CFU]) and the percent of population exposed to fecal contamination for each pathway. Magnitude of fecal contamination, frequency of exposure behavior, and estimated fecal exposures were compared across pathways, neighborhoods and cities. The most common dominant exposure pathways for adults were raw produce, open drains, and street food and for children were open drains, produce, and floodwater. For produce, the dose was usually very high (>106 CFU/month), and a large percent of the population was exposed (>80%). For street food, average E. coli concentration ranged from 101.3 CFU/serving in one neighborhood in Lusaka, Zambia to 105.5 CFU/serving in one neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Exposure to open drains resulted in high doses (>104 CFU/month), but the population exposed varied (5%-92%) even within the same city. Exposure to fecal contamination via floodwater, usually affected a high percent of population (>80%) but had variable doses (102.5- 1010 CFU/month). Both dose and percent of population exposed varied for public latrines and municipal piped water. This information can help city governments choose effective interventions to reduce the risk of exposure to fecal contamination. Widespread risks from contaminated produce and street food within and across cities underscore the link between excreta management and food safety and need for global action.

unc_sanipath_2019.pptx

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The SaniPath Tool: An Integrated Project Management, Data Analysis, and Visualization Platform

S Raj, Y Wang, A White, N Kishore, J Michiel, C Siesel, CL Moe

UNC Water and Health Conference (October 2018) Suraja Raj presented a poster at the UNC Water and Health Conference in October, 2018, highlighting new developments related to the new SaniPath Tool. The SaniPath Tool examines human exposure to fecal contamination in low-resource urban settings. It provides guidance for primary data collection, automated exposure analysis, and results visualizations that are accessible to people from a range of scientific backgrounds. This poster describes the development of a tool that allows users to plan a SaniPath deployment, set up and manage mobile data collection, analyze results, and generate reports. The tool guides users through steps of implementing the tool–from planning to data analysis. The tool is composed of a project planning and management interface, mobile data collection and data repository, and a data analysis and visualization dashboard. The tool can be customized to suit context-specific data collection needs. The SaniPath Tool is built on an integrated system of existing open source technologies and a tailored project management interface. It guides users through project configuration, training, and deployment by automating the customization and analysis processes. The Tool also uses an open source mobile data collection software, KoboToolbox (KT), which provides the backbone of data collection and storage. Data is collected via downloadable mobile forms used on Android devices and is uploaded to KT, which is paired with Enketo for online web data entry or editing. The tool automatically retrieves data from KT and generates exposure assessments for each study site and exposure pathway. Users can view and analyze the collected data, access data visualizations, and create a draft final report. The services are deployed on Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure and backups are stored in S3 buckets for redundant data storage. The SaniPath Tool is an innovative use of mHealth in the WASH sector and can serve as an example of how open source software can be used to synthesize and analyze complex information and encourage public health evidence-based decision-making about urban sanitation investment.

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