Pathogenic microbes can travel thousands of miles through the atmosphere

During the coronavirus pandemic, it became clear that viruses can travel through the air — at least far enough for a sneeze at one end of a room to infect someone at the other. Long-distance travel of fungi and bacteria carried on dust particles from Africa has been linked to damage to coral and plants in the Caribbean, and dust storms have been connected to outbreaks of meningitis caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. However, causal connections between these phenomena are difficult to confirm, and despite their potential relevance to human health, knowledge about their mechanisms is lacking. On Tuesday, the journal PNAS published the results of a study showing that hundreds of microorganisms, some of which cause human disease, can survive atmospheric travel of over 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles).

Seguir leyendo