Could Tourist Boots Act as Vectors for Disease Transmission in Antarctica?
Background Over the last decade there has been a rapid increase in the number of visitors landing at wildlife sites on the Antarctic continent, and concern has been raised that tourists may transmit important pathogens to or between wildlife colonies. The aim of this study was to determine if touris...
Published in: | Journal of Travel Medicine |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Oxford University Press
2002
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://jtm.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/9/4/190 https://doi.org/10.2310/7060.2002.24058 |
id |
fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:jtm:9/4/190 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:jtm:9/4/190 2023-05-15T13:34:23+02:00 Could Tourist Boots Act as Vectors for Disease Transmission in Antarctica? Curry, C.H. McCarthy, J.S. Darragh, H.M. Wake, R.A. Todhunter, R. Terris, J. 2002-07-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://jtm.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/9/4/190 https://doi.org/10.2310/7060.2002.24058 en eng Oxford University Press http://jtm.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/9/4/190 http://dx.doi.org/10.2310/7060.2002.24058 Copyright (C) 2002, International Society of Travel Medicine Original Articles TEXT 2002 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.2310/7060.2002.24058 2018-04-07T06:21:43Z Background Over the last decade there has been a rapid increase in the number of visitors landing at wildlife sites on the Antarctic continent, and concern has been raised that tourists may transmit important pathogens to or between wildlife colonies. The aim of this study was to determine if tourist activities pose a potential threat to Antarctic wildlife, or possibly to human populations through carriage of pathogens on boots. Methods In two trips conducted to Antarctica in the summer season of 2000/2001, swabs were collected from tourist boots: prior to landing, to determine baseline level of bacterial flora on the boots (A isolates); immediately on return to the ship, to quantify the level of contamination (B isolates); and after the boots were washed in seawater to determine the recovery of the organisms after cleaning (C isolates). Swabs were cultured for coliforms, and isolates identified using the API system. Results Twenty organisms resembling coliforms were isolated from 15 of 72 pairs of boots. Two isolates were recovered from group A, 4 from group B, and 14 from group C. Of these 20 isolates, 11 could be identified using the API identification method. The remaining 9 isolates all produced an unknown but identical profile number. Conclusion These results indicate that current practices for cleaning the boots of tourists visiting Antarctic wildlife colonies may not be sufficient to prevent the transmission of pathogens, and indicate that further studies are needed to define the best method of disinfection. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica HighWire Press (Stanford University) Antarctic The Antarctic Journal of Travel Medicine 9 4 190 193 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
op_collection_id |
fthighwire |
language |
English |
topic |
Original Articles |
spellingShingle |
Original Articles Curry, C.H. McCarthy, J.S. Darragh, H.M. Wake, R.A. Todhunter, R. Terris, J. Could Tourist Boots Act as Vectors for Disease Transmission in Antarctica? |
topic_facet |
Original Articles |
description |
Background Over the last decade there has been a rapid increase in the number of visitors landing at wildlife sites on the Antarctic continent, and concern has been raised that tourists may transmit important pathogens to or between wildlife colonies. The aim of this study was to determine if tourist activities pose a potential threat to Antarctic wildlife, or possibly to human populations through carriage of pathogens on boots. Methods In two trips conducted to Antarctica in the summer season of 2000/2001, swabs were collected from tourist boots: prior to landing, to determine baseline level of bacterial flora on the boots (A isolates); immediately on return to the ship, to quantify the level of contamination (B isolates); and after the boots were washed in seawater to determine the recovery of the organisms after cleaning (C isolates). Swabs were cultured for coliforms, and isolates identified using the API system. Results Twenty organisms resembling coliforms were isolated from 15 of 72 pairs of boots. Two isolates were recovered from group A, 4 from group B, and 14 from group C. Of these 20 isolates, 11 could be identified using the API identification method. The remaining 9 isolates all produced an unknown but identical profile number. Conclusion These results indicate that current practices for cleaning the boots of tourists visiting Antarctic wildlife colonies may not be sufficient to prevent the transmission of pathogens, and indicate that further studies are needed to define the best method of disinfection. |
format |
Text |
author |
Curry, C.H. McCarthy, J.S. Darragh, H.M. Wake, R.A. Todhunter, R. Terris, J. |
author_facet |
Curry, C.H. McCarthy, J.S. Darragh, H.M. Wake, R.A. Todhunter, R. Terris, J. |
author_sort |
Curry, C.H. |
title |
Could Tourist Boots Act as Vectors for Disease Transmission in Antarctica? |
title_short |
Could Tourist Boots Act as Vectors for Disease Transmission in Antarctica? |
title_full |
Could Tourist Boots Act as Vectors for Disease Transmission in Antarctica? |
title_fullStr |
Could Tourist Boots Act as Vectors for Disease Transmission in Antarctica? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Could Tourist Boots Act as Vectors for Disease Transmission in Antarctica? |
title_sort |
could tourist boots act as vectors for disease transmission in antarctica? |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
http://jtm.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/9/4/190 https://doi.org/10.2310/7060.2002.24058 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
http://jtm.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/9/4/190 http://dx.doi.org/10.2310/7060.2002.24058 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2002, International Society of Travel Medicine |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2310/7060.2002.24058 |
container_title |
Journal of Travel Medicine |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
190 |
op_container_end_page |
193 |
_version_ |
1766052307309428736 |