New groundbreaking research aims to evaluate potential human health risks from bacteria in surface water systems across four U.S. states. The project involving the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will assess the environmental spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens—disease-causing microorganisms that have evolved to withstand the effects of antibiotics and other medicines designed to kill them—through wastewater discharge and agricultural runoff. The three-year study recently received a $2.4 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. … UH Mānoa researchers will focus on Kauaʻi’s Hanalei River, where they will examine how cesspools and animal agriculture contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance. The river system in Hawaiʻi, along with waterways in Nebraska, New Jersey and California, were selected to represent diverse environmental conditions and pollution sources. 

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