Scientists warn that a “reservoir of disease” is forming as bacteria in rivers become resistant to antibiotics due to sewage contamination.

Researchers at the University of Suffolk discovered that bacteria in the non-tidal section of the River Deben in Suffolk have developed antibiotic resistance by exchanging DNA with antibiotic-resistant E. coli. Alarmingly, some bacteria are now resistant to carbapenem, a critical antibiotic used as a last-resort treatment for infections resistant to other drugs.

Dr. Nick Tucker, a leading microbiologist in the study, called the findings “particularly worrying.”

“Organisms that are currently low risk are being mixed with pathogenic organisms from sewage,” he said.

“We’re needlessly adding pathogenic and virulence genes to bacteria found in the environment, and that could be creating a reservoir of disease.”

His team collaborated with citizen scientists from the Deben Climate Centre, who collected water samples over two years, and with CEFAS laboratory scientists, who identified the new strains. These strains are now being tested for resistance to six commonly used antibiotics.

The River Deben, which flows from Debenham to the North Sea via Woodbridge, is contaminated by bacteria from various sources, including domestic cesspits, farms, and industrial waste, according to volunteer David Findley. Fellow volunteer Bill Brammar added that the water is often unsafe for swimming due to the presence of toxic and dangerous bacteria.

Of particular concern is the discovery of Klebsiella bacteria resistant to carbapenem, as this antibiotic is crucial for treating the most challenging infections, Dr. Tucker explained.

“The risk of infection doesn’t necessarily change, but the ability to treat those infections is vastly diminished and it’s something, as a society, that we shouldn’t be doing. We should be avoiding that at all costs.

“It increases the risk of water users contracting an infection that is difficult to treat.”

Bacteria can exchange plasmid DNA through a process known as horizontal genome transfer.

The research team has isolated and analysed 500 bacterial strains, revealing significant levels of antibiotic resistance, underscoring the growing public health risk posed by environmental contamination.

 

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