Impact of an Urban Sanitation Intervention on Enteric Pathogen Detection in Soils

Environmental fecal contamination is common in many low-income cities, contributing to a high burden of enteric infections and associated negative sequelae. To evaluate the impact of a shared onsite sanitation intervention in Maputo, Mozambique on enteric pathogens in the domestic environment, we collected 179 soil samples at shared latrine entrances from intervention (n= 49) and control (n= 51) compounds during baseline (pre-intervention) and after 24 months (post-intervention) as part of the Maputo Sanitation Trial. We tested soils for the presence of nucleic acids associated with 20 enteric pathogens using a multiplex reverse transcription qPCR platform. We detected at least one pathogen-associated target in 91% (163/179) of soils and a median of 3 (IQR=1.5, 5) pathogens. Using a difference-in-difference analysis and adjusting for compound population, visibly wet soil, sun exposure, wealth, temperature, animal presence, and visible feces, we estimate the intervention reduced the probability of [≥]1 pathogen detected by 15% (adjusted prevalence ratio, aPR=0.85; 95% CI: 0.70, 1.0) and the total number of pathogens detected by 35% (aPR =0.65; 0.44, 0.95) in soil 24 months following the intervention. These results suggest that the intervention reduced the presence of some fecal contamination in the domestic environment, but pathogen detection remained prevalent 24-months following the introduction of new latrines.