Another possible microbe-related unintended consequence of the Flint water crisis 

The NY Times is reporting that an outbreak of Shigellosis in Flint may be connected to the water crisis there (in that people’s changes in their hand cleaning and other washing behaviors due to the water may have contributed to the outbreak).  See the story (linked below) for more details.  If true this is yet …

Flint Water Crisis – the Legal Battle Begins

Just a quick update on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. The NY Times has this article out on the impending legal battle to deal with how the situation was mishandled. 13 felonies and 5 misdemeanors were lodged against state officials Busch, Prysby, and Glasgow. Gov. Snyder also faces an effort to recall him from …

Flint Water Update

Over the past few months, the Flint water crisis has been covered at length by various media outlets, including here on microBEnet. Here is an update on the situation from NY Times. The Legionnaire’s cases started popping up around June 2014. This article discusses the poor water management in Flint, as well as the inadequate response …

Legionella sequencing in tap water and clinical isolates from Flint, MI

So this was a very interesting paper to be involved in.  On the one hand all our lab really did was to facilitate some genome sequencing and help with the assemblies, validation of those assemblies, and some genomics work.   Standard fare for the lab.  But… these were over 100 Legionella pneumophila isolates collected from either …

New paper: Legionella DNA markers in tap water in Flint, Michigan

The Flint Water Crisis garnered national and international media coverage of elevated levels of lead in the water delivered to consumers’ taps. When the city of Flint began using the Flint River as its drinking water source without the addition of a corrosion inhibitor beginning in April 2014, the corrosive new water began to leach …

FlintWaterStudy Research Fundraiser on GoFundMe #BuiltEnvironment #microBEnet

This seems like an incredibly worthy cause: Source: FlintWaterStudy Research Fundraiser by Siddhartha Roy – GoFundMe In addition it is directly connected to the mission of microBEnet in that this is a fundraiser for the work of Marc Edwards, He is a professor at Virginia Tech and one of the heroes of the Flint Water …

Alleged mishandling of Flint Legionnaire’s outbreak leads to manslaughter charges for MI health chief

This is a pretty big deal. Nick Lyon is the highest-ranking state official to be charged in the crisis. Source: Flint Water Crisis: Michigan Health Chief Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter : NPR The director of the Department of HHS in Michigan, Nick Lyon, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in relation to the Flint, MI …

From Watersheds to Shower Heads: A Workshop on Legionella Research and Policy

Legionellosis has emerged as a major public health threat related to the built environment, and outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease in New York City and Flint, Michigan in 2015 have drawn increased attention to the problem. Cases reported to CDC have increased more than four-fold since 2000 with over 5000 cases reported in 2015; almost all …

Great long read from WisconsinWatch.org on water radium levels increasing as wells are dug deeper 

As communities grow and pump more groundwater, radium from deep bedrock is contaminating dozens of water systems. The city of Waukesha wants to tap into Lake Michigan to solve its radium problem. Just was pointed to this piece by Deborah Blum: As wells go deeper, radium levels rise in state tap water | WisconsinWatch.org.  It …

Deceptive lead testing, water utilities and the EPA vs. citizen science 

Just got done reading this article from the Guardian and it is distressing Guardian analysis reveals millions of customers were asked to used testing method condemned by the EPA which may flush out detectable lead content Source: Water utilities serving American cities use tests that downplay contamination | Environment | The Guardian by Jessica Glenza and Oliver Milman. The …