Bacteria on the flight: local and international destinations?
Thomas Gutsmann1,2, Khanneh Wadinga Fomba 3 & Christian Nehls1
1Research Center Borstel – Leibniz Lung Center, Division of Biophysics, Borstel, Germany
2Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Hamburg, Germany
3Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Department Chemistry of the Atmosphere, Leipzig, Germany
Summary
Dust storms can transport mineral dust (MD) from desert soil through the atmosphere to regions far from the dust origin. This impacts not only the quality of life, but also the health of millions of people in the “dust belt” and beyond: 330,000 deaths worldwide were associated with MD exposure in 2010 [1]. The climate change promotes a desertification and thereby an increase in global MD exposure. Respiratory, cardiovascular and allergic diseases can be observed in affected individuals. However, non-pathogenic and pathogenic microbes are also transported with the dust [2]. These not only spread to new regions but may also lead to direct infections.
The “Dust-Risk” consortium takes a highly interdisciplinary approach with direct public health relevance and aims to link the composition and properties of MD and associated microbes with its health risk. MD and health data have been collected in the Cape Verde Islands, which serve as a model region.