Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Fecal Coliforms in Wastewater Settings: Challenges and Way Forward from The Perspective of Global South

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major global health challenges and influenced by unregulated consumption of antibiotics in food, pharmaceuticals, and application in animal husbandry. The antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) are ubiquitous—in soil, sediment, sludge, ground and wastewater, freshwater, municipal wastes, and even in drinking water. The build-up of environmental antibiotic residues directly influences the spread of antibiotic resistance. The prevalence and effects of antibiotic residues in across environments necessitates mapping risks associated with this silent pandemic. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are designated to reduce biological communities linked to infection and possibly can have consequences for ARGs and ARBs. Presently, WWTPs are considered to be one of the major reservoirs of animal and human borne pathogens; represent a potent hub for horizontal gene transfer among microbiomes. In this chapter, an effort has been made to summarize the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in fecal coliforms and other associated microorganisms along with current scenario of the importance of WWTPs in tackling microbial infections linked to ARGs.