Pathogenic microbes blown vast distances by high-level winds – Living microbes that cause disease in humans and host antibiotic-resistance genes carried 1,200 miles, in a new study that found microbes (including E Coli, Staph, C diff, fungi) had traveled on dust particles from China to Japan.

I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2404191121

From the linked article:

Pathogenic microbes blown vast distances by winds, scientists discover

Living microbes that cause disease in humans and host antibiotic-resistance genes carried 1,200 miles

Microbes that cause disease in humans can travel thousands of miles on high-level winds, scientists have revealed for the first time.

The winds studied carried a surprising diversity of bacteria and fungi, including known pathogens and, some with genes for resistance to multiple antibiotics. Some of the microbes were shown to be alive – in other words, they had survived the long journey and were able to replicate.

The researchers said this intercontinental transport route was unlikely to cause disease in people directly, because the concentration of microbes was low. However, they said it was a cause of concern that microbes could be seeded into new environments and that antibiotic-resistance genes could travel in this way.

The study showed the microbes hitched a 1,200-mile (2,000km) ride on dust particles blown from farm fields in north-eastern China to Japan. Similar patterns of winds exist around the world. More than 300 types of bacteria and about 260 types of fungi were found in the samples collected over Tokyo. Other microbes not yet known to science are thought to be present.

The microbes were embedded in the particles, which protected them from ultraviolet light and dehydration, allowing some to remain viable. The human pathogen species included bacteria such as E coli, Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Clostridium difficile.