The fauna in the Antarctica is threatened by pathogens humans spread in polar latitudes
The new study, which detected bacteria from humans in the genus Salmonella and Campylobacter in Antarctic and Subantarctic marine birds, reveals the fragility of polar ecosystems and warns about the risk of massive deaths and extinctions of local fauna populations due pathogens.
Reverse zoonosis: when the human species infects other living beings
Explorers, whalers, scientists -and lately, tourists-, are examples of human collectives that moved to the furthest regions of the planet. Some studies have claimed for years that there had been cases of reverse zoonosis, that is, infections humans give to other living beings. Despite some previous signs, scientific studies on zoonotic agents in the Antarctic and Subantarctic areas have been fragmented. Therefore, evidence is spread and not completely convincing in this field.
The new study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, studies the potential transmission of bacteria from humans to marine bird populations in four areas of the Antarctic and Subantarctic ecosystems. "Chronology and potential pathways for reverse zoonosis in these ecosystems are complex and difficult to study, but it seems they can be clearly related to the proximity of the fauna to inhabited areas and the presence of research stations," says Professor Jacob González-Solís, from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the UB and IRBio.
Marta Cerdà-Cuéllar, Elisabet Moré, Teresa Ayats, Mònica Aguilera, Sara Muñoz-González, Noelia Antilles, Peter G. Ryan, Jacob González-Solís. Do humans spread zoonotic enteric bacteria in Antarctica? Science of The Total Environment, 2019; 654: 190 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.272
Photo: Jacob González-Solís (UB-IRBio)