Metagenomic Surveillance of Waterborne Pathogens in Climate-Vulnerable Coastal Areas of Bangladesh
Severe freshwater scarcity and advancing salinity in climate-vulnerable coastal Bangladesh have forced households to rely on untreated pond water for drinking and domestic use, sustaining continual exposure to surface water microbiomes that may harbor pathogens. Despite ponds' central role in coastal livelihoods, their microbial ecology and resistome remain uncharacterized. This study characterizes microbial community composition, pathogenic taxa, antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), virulence factors, and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in ponds used for drinking and domestic purposes across two coastal communities, Gabura union, Satkhira, and Moudubi union, Patuakhali. This study will provide baseline genomic evidence that surface water relied upon by vulnerable coastal communities harbors microbial hazards and exposure pathways that conventional water-quality monitoring could miss.