Laboratory for Infectious Disease and the Environment
Our new fact sheet is here!
Our new fact sheet is here!
Learn about the Laboratory for Infectious Disease and the Environment (LIDE).
LIDE capabilities
LIDE capabilities
Molecular and culture analysis methods are paired with sampling capabilities across environmental matrices to address a wide range of questions and problems.
News
Publications
Sources and risk factors for nitrate, pathogens, and fecal contamination of private wells in rural southwestern Wisconsin, USA Sources and risk factors for nitrate, pathogens, and fecal contamination of private wells in rural southwestern Wisconsin, USA
Household well water can be degraded by contaminants from the land's surface, but private well owners lack means to protect the source water from neighboring disturbances. Rural residents of southwestern Wisconsin, USA, rely on private well water, and the combination of land use and fractured carbonate bedrock makes groundwater vulnerable to contamination. To identify the extent, sources...
Quantitative microbial risk assessment with microbial source tracking for mixed fecal sources contaminating recreational river waters, Iowa, USA Quantitative microbial risk assessment with microbial source tracking for mixed fecal sources contaminating recreational river waters, Iowa, USA
Fecal contamination of surface water can cause acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) among recreators. AGI risk varies among human, livestock, and wildlife fecal sources, but the prevalence of individual sources is unknown for most recreational sites. We estimated AGI risk for six sites near Des Moines, Iowa, using quantitative microbial risk assessment combined with microbial source...
Two risk assessments: Evaluating the use of indicator HF183 Bacteroides versus pathogen measurements for modelling recreational illness risks in an urban watershed Two risk assessments: Evaluating the use of indicator HF183 Bacteroides versus pathogen measurements for modelling recreational illness risks in an urban watershed
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of HF183 Bacteroides for estimating pathogen exposures during recreational water activities. We compared the use of Bacteroides-based exposure assessment to exposure assessment that relied on pathogen measurements. We considered two types of recreational water sites: those impacted by combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and those not...
Science
Assessing the health risk from waterborne pathogens for public users recreating on future Iowa Water Trails recreation sites near Des Moines
Scientists at LIDE are collaborating with Polk County Conservation in central Iowa to estimate the health risk posed to recreators in the Des Moines River and tributaries. Samples collected over two years are tested for viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens, and health risk is estimated using quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). Health risk will also be compared to microbial source...
Well Water Advisory Forecasts for northeast Wisconsin
The fractured bedrock of northeast Wisconsin is vulnerable to groundwater contamination because water and contaminants can move quickly. LIDE is launching a study to predict contamination of private wells in northeast WI using Runoff Risk Advisory Forecasts (RRAF). RRAF is an online tool that forecasts conditions conducive to surface runoff, and the long-term vision is to leverage its forecasts to...
Southwest Wisconsin Groundwater and Geology (SWIGG) study
The fractured bedrock aquifers of southwest Wisconsin are often overlain by shallow soils, so private wells are potentially vulnerable to contamination by nitrate and pathogens from the land surface. The goal of this study is to evaluate the extent and causes of private well water contamination in three southwest Wisconsin counties.