Microbiological Coastal Risks and Monitoring Systems - Vulnerability of Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptation - page 103

new risks for human health (and for the health of domestic and farm
animals) [DRA 04, LAN 05]. Important treatment programs for ballast
waters are being developed or put in place in developed countries
(treatment with ultraviolet (UV) or electrolysis).
3.2.2.3. Pollution and microalgae
Intensification of agricultural activity and the use of fertilizer,
nitrates and phosphates, as well as industrial pollution, impact
continental waters and coastal marine waters by favoring the
development of blooms of toxic microalgae [LAN 05]. The increase in
these blooms has been reported in numerous estuaries and coastal
lagoons with important consequences on the sanitary quality of water
for swimming, and fishing and the production of shellfish.
3.2.3. The consequences in terms of new infectious risks
The quality of coastal waters, deltas, estuaries and coastal lagoons
is a challenge in the face of demographic growth and the increasing
number of towns on the coast, the intensification of agriculture and
climate change. Efforts should be made to improve the quality of the
environments (continental and coastal waters) and the quality of
wastewater emissions, as well as the quality of drinking water.
Monitoring of aquatic environments requires agricultural emissions to
be taken into account as well as fluctuations in climate that influence
the dynamic of infectious agents (or their production of toxins) and
their vectors.
3.2.4. Emergence: cases of human pathogenic vibrios
3.2.4.1. General remarks
The vibrio genus belongs to the Vibrionaceae family and is
composed of a hundred species. These bacteria are indigenous to
marine environments and are present from marine-coastal
environments with brackish waters as far as extreme oceanic depths,
depending on the species [COL 77, PRU 05]. Vibrios are aero-
anaerobic heterotrophs, which break down organic matter. They are