Steve Hamner

Montana State University | MSU

Over the past several decades, there have been a number of national and international meetings on waterborne diseases. Conclusions from these meetings often seem remarkably similar and suggest little progress in the field of water and health. This is both a true and a false premise, as our ability to use molecular tools to describe microbial commun...

In-depth studies of the microbiome and mobile resistome profile of different environments is central to understanding the role of the environment in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is one of the urgent threats to global public health. In this study, we demonstrated the use of a rapid (and easily portable) sequencing approach coupled with user...

Since 2014, biology students at Fort Lewis College have studied the water quality of the Animas River in Durango, Colorado. Environmental microbiology and molecular biology techniques have been employed to study Escherichia coli isolates from the river and to define characteristics of the bacteria related to public health. E. coli was found in the...

The Little Bighorn River is the primary source of water for water treatment plants serving the local Crow Agency population, and has special significance in the spiritual and ceremonial life of the Crow tribe. Unfortunately, the watershed suffers from impaired water quality, with high counts of fecal coliform bacteria routinely measured during run-...

The cholera epidemic that occurred in Haiti post-earthquake in 2010 has resulted in over 9000 deaths during the past eight years. Currently, morbidity and mortality rates for cholera have declined, but cholera cases still occur on a daily basis. One continuing issue is an inability to accurately predict and identify when cholera outbreaks might occ...

Waterborne diseases continue to take a heavy toll on the global community, with developing nations, and particularly young children carrying most of the burden of morbidity and mortality. Starting with the historical context, this article explores some of the reasons why this burden continues today, despite our advances in public health over the pa...

The Little Bighorn River flows through the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. In 2008, Escherichia coli concentrations as high as 7179 MPN/100 ml were detected in the river at the Crow Agency Water Treatment Plant intake site. During 2008, 2009, and 2012, 10 different serotypes of E. coli, including O157:H7, harboring both intimin and Shiga toxin...

Bile salts exhibit potent antibacterial properties, acting as detergents to disrupt cell membranes and as DNA-damaging agents. Although bacteria inhabiting the intestinal tract are able to resist bile's antimicrobial effects, relatively little is known about how bile influences virulence of enteric pathogens. Escherichia coli O157:H7 is an importan...

The River Ganga in India is one of the most polluted large rivers of the world. Improvements in wastewater and sewage treatment infrastructure have not kept pace with the rapid population and industrial growth occurring over the past several decades. The Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF) was founded in 1982 in response to public concern about sewage p...

This chapter identifies the role environmental tracking plays in identifying public health water hazard and water quality issues. It outlines public health issues to be examined and provides an integrated overview of water and diseases by combining knowledge of the hydrologic cycle, which describes how water serves as a significant component of exp...

This chapter identifies the role environmental tracking plays in identifying public health water hazard and water quality issues. It outlines public health issues to be examined and provides an integrated overview of water and diseases by combining knowledge of the hydrologic cycle, which describes how water serves as a significant component of exp...

Water has always been held in high respect by the Apsaálooke (Crow) people of Montana. Tribal members questioned the health of the rivers and well water because of visible water quality deterioration and potential connections to illnesses in the community. Community members initiated collaboration among local organizations, the tribe, and academic...

Waterborne Disease in Perspective Disease Control Pathogens of Interest Case Studies Treatment Options Surveillance, Prediction, and Modeling Concluding Thoughts References

Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 was detected among bacteria collected from the Ganges River. O157:H7 isolates tested positive for stx1, stx2, and eae gene sequences. Identification of potentially pathogenic isolates from extensively used source water indicates that O157:H7 may be a significant but as yet underacknowledged public health concern in...

In Varanasi, India, an estimated 200 million liters daily or more of untreated human sewage is discharged into the Ganges River. River water monitoring over the past 12 years has demonstrated faecal coliform counts up to 10(8) MPN (most probable number) per 100 ml and biological oxygen demand levels averaging over 40 mg/l in the most polluted part...

Three related mouse mammary cell lines were cultured in collagen gels and assayed for growth factor responsiveness and interaction via soluble factors. The CL-S1 cell line is nontumorigenic and grows poorly in collagen gel culture. The +SA and -SA cell lines exhibit different degrees of malignant behavior in vivo and have different growth propertie...

The abilities of rodent tumor cell lines; B16BL6, ND and LT dietary variants of B16BL6, +SA, RT7-4bs and RT7-4bLs to invade composite collagen I gels containing heparin, chemically modified heparins, heparan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, hyaluronic acid, dextran, dextran sulfate, laminin and collagen IV were investigated, and compared to the invasi...

We have examined the nature of biochemical degradation of an isolated basement membrane matrix (bovine lens capsule) using different methodologies. The first strategy was quantitation of the release of surface-bound ¹²⁵I and a second the documentation by SDS-PAGE of the appearance of putative cleavage products and the loss of high-molecular-weight...