Posted on 05/25/2006 1:53:50 PM PDT by blam
Dust clouds transport bacteria from Africa around the world
Ian Sample
Thursday May 25, 2006
Giant clouds of dust whipped up by desert storms in Africa can carry infectious organisms to other continents, scientists claim today. Despite being blown more than three miles high and exposed to radiation from the sun, strains of bacteria and fungi survived and were able to grow when they returned to Earth, researchers found.
Among 40 tests of air samples taken in the mid-Atlantic, 24 revealed living microbes, including 26 colonies of bacteria and 83 fungi. They included strains capable of causing disease in humans, animals and plants. A typical gram of Sahara soil contains up to 1bn bacteria, and estimates suggest 2bn tonnes of soil particles are blown around the planet each year.
"Even if the UV kills 90% of the microbes, dust higher up in the cloud will shade those lower down, so you still get a phenomenal number surviving," said lead scientist Dale Griffin of the US Geological Survey. His research will be presented at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in Orlando today.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
I remember when I lived in Florida it was not uncommon to find my car coated with orange dust from the Sahara Desert at certain times of the year.
Also, this iron rich dust causes out-breaks of 'Red Tide' in the Gulf Of Mexico.
"The article doesn't mention viruses...can they survive the journey?"
Depends on the virus, but yes.
I call BS
We certainly are!
susie
That does it. Time to live in a plastic bubble. Don't know how I managed to survive this long with all these bacteria and viruses floating around the planet.
Let's see...this has been going on for how many millenia?
Exactly what I was thinking...
Dust clouds... bacteria... Africa?
They forgot one ingredient: Horsesh*t!
Uh oh ... we better give these scientists a GIANT BUDGET to protect is from the deadly AFRICAN GERMS!!! :O
The reverse is also true -- germs here end up there. Worse!!! Di-hydrogen Oxide from industrial processes here is distributed all over the globe! Oh the humanity.
FWIW, you likely have more bacteria living in you than you have cells on your body. So get over it.
These guys are trying to forge another crisis out of ignorance of the biome.
It is certainly possible for bacterial spores to be transported through dust clouds. Large dust formations in the Sahara have been known to have reached pretty much around the world.
Nope. Most certainly not B.S.
Science magazines have shown satellite photos of the cloud--clear as the nose on your face--travelling toward Florida. I live in NV, had not idea this could happen until I saw the photo some years back.
It's for real.
Someone wanna write a book with this as the causative premise of what initiated the Black Death? Make for a good book.
Sauron
I meant the viruses, not the sand.
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