Project
Modelling of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistant bacteria in rivers in China
Antibiotics in the environment pose a potential risk to ecosystems and human health. Under the selection pressure of antibiotics, microorganisms can develop antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which counteract the effectiveness of antibiotics.
Introduction
If AMR is not curbed, there will be 10 million deaths worldwide because of it in 2050. Due to the difficulty of monitoring, there is a lack of data on antibiotics and AMR in rivers in China. For this situation, modelling is a powerful tool to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the problem.
Objective
The objective of this research is to contribute to a better understanding of the sources and the behavior of antibiotics, E. coli and AMR E. coli in rivers in China, and to design intervention policies and technologies for sustainable management of antibiotics, E. coli and AMR E. coli in China by modelling.
Method
An antibiotics model and an E. coli model simulating loads and concentrations will be developed first. Then based on these two models, a model will be built to identify the current situations of AMR E. coli pollution in rivers in China. Finally, from the outputs of these three models, intervention policies and technologies will be formulated, and scenario analysis will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. All the models are developed based on the GloWPa (Global Waterborne Pathogen) model.