Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 7, 2026

How to Obtain Reliable Visual Event-related Potentials in Newborns
Published on: October 24, 2019
Open Defecation Sites, Unmet Sanitation Needs, and Potential Sanitary Risks in Atlanta, Georgia, 2017-2018
Drew Capone1, Anna Ferguson1, Matthew O Gribble1
1Drew Capone and Joe Brown are with the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Anna Ferguson is with Remerge Inc, Atlanta. Matthew O. Gribble is with the Department of Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta.
Objectives:
To survey the spatial distribution and enteric pathogen profile of discarded human feces in the city of Atlanta, Georgia.
Methods:
After defining priority search areas in central Atlanta, we conducted 5 searches of open defecation sites totaling 15 hours during the period from October 2017 to January 2018. We collected fresh stools for analysis via multiplex reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction to identify presence of 15 common parasitic, bacterial, and viral enteric pathogens.
Results:
We identified and mapped 39 open defecation sites containing 118 presumptive human stools; 23% of the 26 collected fresh stools tested positive for 1 or more pathogens. An estimated 12% of stools were positive for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, 7.7% for Giardia spp., 3.8% for norovirus, and 3.8% for Salmonella spp. The majority (92%) of identified open defecation sites were within 400 meters of a shelter or soup kitchen.
Conclusions:
Though this study was constrained by a small sample size, results suggest that open defecation in Atlanta is common and may pose risks to public health. Public Health Implications. Open defecation may pose health risks to people experiencing homelessness and the general public.
Related Concept Videos
Feces Formation and Defecation
The mass peristalsis then pushes the feces into the rectum, which stretches the rectal walls to activate...
Conserved Binding Sites
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally...
Conserved Binding Sites
Ligand Binding Sites
Protein-ligand interactions are quite specific; even though numerous potential ligands surround a cellular protein at any given time, only a particular ligand can bind to that protein. Moreover, a ligand binds only to a dedicated area on the surface of the protein, known as the...
Ligand Binding Sites
Relative Risk

