Quantitative microbial risk assessment of drug-resistant tuberculosis exposure from wastewater systems across...

Tuberculosis (TB), especially in its drug-resistant form, remains a critical public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, where conventional airborne transmission has been well-characterized. However, wastewater systems prevalent across urban centres may serve as overlooked environmental reservoirs for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, posing occupational and environmental health risks. Despite this, the health implications of wastewater exposure remain underexplored, particularly in high TB-burden settings. To address this research gap, we applied the Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) framework, incorporating Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), to assess the health risks of exposure to drug-resistant TB pathogens in wastewater. Our study uniquely focuses on three exposure scenarios: untreated wastewater at the head of works, aerosols from aeration tanks, and reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation, across six African countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, and South Africa. The study found the highest concentrations of M. tuberculosis in Ghana, with rifampicin-resistant strains present at lower levels across all countries. Infection risks ranged from 3 % to 100 %, with irrigation posing the highest median infection risk (0.77). The greatest disease burdens were observed at the head of works (112.46 DALYs) and during irrigation (105.31 DALYs). Our findings highlight wastewater as a significant and previously underestimated route for TB transmission. This study underscores the urgent need for enhanced treatment technologies, occupational safety protocols, and environmental surveillance. Integrating wastewater-based epidemiology into national TB monitoring could provide a valuable early-warning system, especially in regions reusing wastewater for agriculture, and may significantly strengthen global TB control strategies.