Asli Aslan

• Ph.D., M.S.
• Director of Institute for Water and Health at Georgia Southern University

Most coastal freshwater ecosystems in the United States have semi‐tidal movements during the day. Routine monitoring of these environments is conducted once during the day when tides can be at either ebb or flood conditions, causing a variability in bacterial concentrations and misinterpretation of the illness risk associated with human activities....

Numerous bacterial genetic markers are available for the molecular detection of human sources of fecal pollution in environmental waters. However, widespread application is hindered by a lack of knowledge regarding geographical stability, limiting implementation to a small number of well-characterized regions. This study investigates the geographic...

Although infectious disease risk from recreational exposure to waterborne pathogens has been an active area of research for decades, beach sand is a relatively unexplored habitat for the persistence of pathogens and fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). Beach sand, biofilms, and water all present unique advantages and challenges to pathogen introduction,...

The global presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in aquatic systems has the potential to influence public health by reducing antibiotic efficacy, and the environment by altering the structure and activity of microbial communities. Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge, agricultural runoff, and variables such as precipitation, warm temper...

Drawing on responses from 238 beachgoers who have visited a Georgia (U.S. state) beach in the past three years, this study asks respondents about their knowledge of beach water quality monitoring, awareness of beach health advisories, perception of water quality, and expected responses upon learning of a beach's water pollution advisory. Binomial l...

Recreational water-related activities have important public health benefits, however, pollution at beaches may have serious health risks. Although there is a substantial amount of research and policies in place at federal and state levels, oftentimes these efforts may not be well translated to the public. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of r...

Objectives Malnutrition is a major public health problem in children. Undernutrition and excessive weight at young ages are associated with life-long consequences. The main objective of this study was to characterize the sociodemographic and food insecurity factors associated with the nutritional status of rural children ages 6 to 24 months living...

COVID-19 is a public health crisis that has strained healthcare resources, especially in rural areas of the U.S. Surveillance is an essential tool for assessing and addressing the impact of the pandemic. As countries and communities around the globe are easing lockdown restrictions, the focus is increasingly on targeting COVID-19 hot spots and impo...

One of the main impacts of urban sprawl in rapidly growing countries has been contamination of coastal environments by waterborne pathogens, posing a critical risk to ecosystem and human health. Microbial source tracking (MST) has been a robust tool to identify the origin of these pathogens globally. This study compared the occurrence of a human-as...

Sachet water is one of the primary sources of drinking water in rapidly growing countries. A study to assess the microbiological quality of sachet water in 21 different brands was conducted in Ghana. Culturable total coliform was positive in 87% of the samples collected, where Escherichia coli colonies were absent. The analysis of quantitative poly...

Background: This study examines whether having a required health inspector on a local board of health (LBOH) improves the board’s information on environmental health. Methods: Analysis uses the national random sample of 351 U.S. LBOHs in the 2011 Profiles collected by the National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH) and examines whether...

There is growing interest in the application of rapid quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and other PCR-based methods for recreational water quality monitoring and management programs. This interest has strengthened given the publication of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-validated qPCR methods for enterococci fecal indicator b...

There is interest in the application of rapid quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods for recreational freshwater quality monitoring of the fecal indicator bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli). In this study we determined the performance of 21 laboratories in meeting proposed, standardized data quality acceptance (QA) criteria and the...

Humans may be exposed to microbial pathogens at recreational beaches via environmental sources, such as water, sand, and aerosols. Although infectious disease risk from exposure to waterborne pathogens has been an active area of research for decades, sand is a relatively unexplored reservoir of pathogens and fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). Beach sa...

Providing safe water through water reuse is becoming a global necessity. One concern with water reuse is the introduction of unregulated contaminants to the environment that cannot be easily removed by conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The occurrence of ampicillin, sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline-resistant Escherich...

These data reflect the perceptions of beach water quality drawn from a convenience sample of 238 visitors to Georgia (USA) beaches collected in June–July 2017 and are related to the research article entitled “Water quality and the perception of risk: a study of Georgia, USA, beachgoers” (Jones et al., 2018) [1]. Data were collected both via an onli...

Though local health department performance of restaurant inspections plays an important role in preventing foodborne illness, restaurant inspection quality and uniformity often varies across local health department jurisdictions and among employees. In 2012, the Cincinnati Health Department initiated a food safety staff quality improvement initiati...

Background: Gastrointestinal disease affects millions of people in the United States and places a substantial economic burden upon healthcare systems. Recreational waters polluted with fecal material are a main source for transmission of gastrointestinal disease. Georgia beaches are monitored for the presence of fecal indicator bacteria, but these...

Background: To monitor pollution of marine beaches in Georgia, enterococci have been used as indicators of fecal contamination. For the 1986 Recreational Water Quality Criteria (RWQC), the beach action value (BAV) was 104 colonyforming units (CFU)/100 ml; the new RWQC, instituted in 2012, is 70 CFU/mL, a 32.6% decrease. When the beach action value...

Addressing the persistence of bacterial indicators using qPCR and their respective DNA targets under various conditions is a critical part of risk assessment for water quality monitoring. The goal of this study was to examine the persistence of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) via Escherichia coli uidA, enterococci 23S rDNA and Bacteroides thetataiot...

Fecal pollution is a worldwide environmental and human health problem that affects many coastal and inland waters. Using modern rapid technologies and adding the identification of the sources of pollution component can improve protection and restoration of water quality of these environments. In this study, we evaluated a human specific fecal pollu...

The specificity of a short fragment functional gene marker (alpha-1-6, mannanase) in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron was compared with two other Bacteroidales markers used for identifying sewage as the source of pollution in water. A total of 11 different animal species and 230 faecal samples were tested using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. T...

The goal of this study was to characterize enteric virus concentrations and their infectivity in a variety of limited-contact recreation and bathing waters, including Great Lakes beaches, inland lakes, rivers, and an effluent-dominated urban waterway. Additionally, we evaluated associations between point sources of human faecal pollution and entero...

Fecal indicators such as Escherichia coli and enterococci are used as regulatory tools to monitor water with 24 h cultivation techniques for possible input of sewage or feces and presence of potential enteric pathogens yet their source (human or animal) cannot be determined with routine methods. This critical uncertainty has furthered water polluti...

This article begins by discussing enteric viruses, specifically those that have been associated with waterborne disease outbreaks. Advances in molecular techniques for virus detection and identification are discussed, specifically polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which is a technique that copies a virus's genetic material (RNA or DNA) for detecting...

Urban Wastewater Treatment and Marine Outfall Facilities are being planned in accordance with Istanbul Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment and Disposal Master Plan prepared for Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (ISKI) in 1999. According to the Master Plan, ISKI initiated in 1996 the water quality monitoring program of receiving water bod...

Comparing the findings on fish eggs and larvae with phytoplankton findings, it is seen that the density and the diversity is higher at stations of Hisarönü Gulf and Yesilova Gulf, rich in terms of organic substances. Thus, this circumstance causes increase in planktonic activities. According to this study, the high level alive eggs and larval devel...

The Gökova SPA had a rather rich juvenile fish community, observed during dives. The post larvae and juveniles of the species laying eggs in the winter and spring were observed to distribute on the shore in the beginning of the summer. It could be seen in the distribution map that the fish larvae was densely distributed at Börtübed, stream mouths a...

The marine biodiversity of Gökova specially protected area (SPA) lead a serious contradiction between conservation of biodiversity and human use. Among 723 macroscopic species, Gokova SPA sheltered 34 species under protection. However, possible solutions have been proposed to the authorities for the problems recorded during this study. Problems rel...

The monthly distribution of indicator bacteria were studied at the Black Sea exit of the Strait of Istanbul. The fecal coliform counts were lower than the fecal streptococci indicating that most of the culturable fecal coliform were lost. According to the sediment assays, the sediment microbiota consumed over 50 % of the fecal coliform and fecal st...

Thirty of the 33 alien decapod crustacean species that have been reported off the Turkish Mediterranean coast are believed to have invaded the region via the Suez Canal, but only three of the species have been recorded along the Turkish Aegean coast. The marine biota of Gökova Bay, Datça Peninsula and Gulf of Fethiye, on the southern Aegean coast o...

Thirty of the 33 alien decapod crustacean species that have been reported off the Turkish Mediterranean coast are believed to have invaded the region via the Suez Canal, but only three of the species have been recorded along the Turkish Aegean coast. The marine biota of Gökova Bay, Datça Peninsula and Gulf of Fethiye, on the southern Aegean coast o...

In this study, the influence of the artificial configuration on the biota in the Marina and surrounding region in the western inner part of the Fethiye Bay by means of biodiversity and hydrographic characteristics of the region is determined. 15 SCUBA and 3 skin dives have been performed in a zigzag manner to determine the marine biodiversity and d...

Oceanographic and diving surveys were conducted at the largest SPA of Mediterranean basin, Datca Bozburun Specially Protected Area, in 2002-2004 periods by the Institute of Marine Sciences and Management of Istanbul University in order to determine marine biodiversity, distribution and condition of endangered or protected species and to make sugges...

Long-term biological data supported by physicochemical parameters were evaluated to investigate the biodiversity of the Golden Horn Estuary from the past to the present. Limited observations dating back to 60 years ago indicated the existence of a diverse community in this small estuary. Unfortunately, in parallel with the increase in unplanned set...

The distribution of toxic cyanobacterium Microcystis cf. aeruginosa in the severely polluted Golden Horn Estuary was studied from 1998 to 2000. Microcystis persisted at the upper estuary where the water circulation was poor and values ranged between 2.9 Â 10 4 and 2.7 Â 10 6 cells ml ÿ1 throughout the study. Simultaneously measured physical (salini...

Five years of monthly data of indicator bacteria from 1998 to 2002 were evaluated to find out the changes in water quality during the rehabilitation of the Golden Horn, an estuary severely polluted from industrial and domestic discharges since the 1950s. Surface fecal coliform was above 10(6) CFU/100 ml at the inner part in 1998. Following the achi...

As part of a five years monitoring project "Water Quality Monitoring of the Strait of Istanbul", February-December 1999 nutrient dynamics of the Black Sea-the Sea of Marmara transect are studied to evaluate the effect of discharges given by deep disposals. Through a one-year study, upper layer nutrient concentrations were generally under the effect...

Oceanographic and diving surveys were conducted at the largest SPA of Mediterranean basin, Datca Bozburun Specially Protected Area, in 2002-2004 periods by the Institute of Marine Sciences and Management of Istanbul University in order to determine marine biodiversity, distribution and condition of endangared or protected species and to make sugges...

In this study, the influence of the artificial configuration on the biota in the Marina and surrounding region in the western inner part of the Fethiye Bay by means of biodiversity and hydrographic characteristics of the region is determined. 15 SCUBA and 3 skin dives have been performed in a zigzag manner to determine the marine biodiversity and d...