André Ravel¹, Michel Bigras-Poulin², Pascal Michel³, and Denise Bélanger². (1) Research group on zoonosis epidemiology and public health, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, 3200, rue Sicotte C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC J2S 7C6, Canada, 450-773-8521 (8490), andre.ravel@umontreal.ca, (2) Research group on zoonosis epidemiology and public health, Université de Montréal, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, 3200, rue Sicotte C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC J2S 7C6, Canada, (3) Research group on zoonosis epidemiology and public health, Laboratory for foodborne zoonoses, 3200, rue Sicotte C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC J2S 7C6, Canada

Infections by enteropathogens linked to agroenvironmental contamination of water represent a significant threat to urban and rural communities. To better characterize and manage this risk, it is necessary, not only to accurately describe enteric illnesses occurring over time or across regions, but also to correctly assess exposure attributable to this environmental pollution. New agroenvironmental hygienic pressure indicators (AHPIs) were developed to synthesise relevant data expressing this exposure. They were derived from a conceptual framework for developing sustainable agriculture indicators and specifically adapted for describing the microbial risk of water contamination by livestock operations. The proposed indicators include two components, and five attributes whose values are calculated at the livestock operation level from a set of available data related to the fields of microbiology, animal production, agronomy, topography, hydrology, and meteorology. They are then aggregated at a higher geographical level to better express exposure of populations to potential of water contamination by zoonotic enteropathogens. A GIS-based tool was developed to capture the georeferenced input data, to compute the indicators, and to map them for various geographical area tailored by the user: farms, municipality, county, public health area, or watershed. The capacity of GIS to derive indicators' values of potential risk to waterborne transmission of zoonotic disease for area of various kinds help address managing the crucial, multi-stakeholder issues about water safety, agriculture, and land use.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the value of GIS-based agroenvironmental hygienic pressure indicators for managing the human exposure to waterborne zoonotic enteropathogens

Keywords: Water Quality, Environmental Exposures

Related Web page: www.medvet.umontreal.ca/grezosp/grezosp_e.asp

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.