Identification of an agent suitable for disinfecting boots of visitors to the Antarctic

Studies of Antarctic fauna have led to tentative identification of a range of potential pathogens for both animals and humans. The rapid increase in visitors on tourist ships to the continent, now exceeding 10,000 per year, raises the concern that humans might transmit pathogens into and between wil...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Record
Main Authors: Curry, C. H., McCarthy, J. S., Darragh, H. M., Wake, R. A., Churchill, S. E., Robins, A. M., Lowen, R. J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:191187
id ftunivqespace:oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:191187
record_format openpolar
spelling ftunivqespace:oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:191187 2023-05-15T13:39:41+02:00 Identification of an agent suitable for disinfecting boots of visitors to the Antarctic Curry, C. H. McCarthy, J. S. Darragh, H. M. Wake, R. A. Churchill, S. E. Robins, A. M. Lowen, R. J. 2005-01-01 https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:191187 eng eng Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0032247404003961 issn:1475-3057 issn:0032-2474 Antarctic fauna Pathogens Chemical disinfectant Bacteria 11 Medical and Health Sciences 1117 Public Health and Health Services Journal Article 2005 ftunivqespace https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247404003961 2020-10-19T22:44:06Z Studies of Antarctic fauna have led to tentative identification of a range of potential pathogens for both animals and humans. The rapid increase in visitors on tourist ships to the continent, now exceeding 10,000 per year, raises the concern that humans might transmit pathogens into and between wildlife colonies. The authors investigated the feasibility and efficacy of chemical disinfection of the microbial contamination on visitors' boots. During three voyages to penguin colonies in the Ross Sea, swabs were collected from the boots of visitors prior to landing, immediately on return to the ship, after a water wash, and after a chemical disinfectant wash using Virkon S. For the first two visits, abundant growth of bacteria was identified on boots at all three stages prior to disinfection. Following disinfection, the growth of bacteria was virtually eliminated. On the third visit, previously disinfected boots grew virtually no bacteria. After this landing the bacterial growth was substantially reduced by disinfection. These results indicate that consideration should be given to including disinfection in cleaning the boots of visitors to wildlife sites in the Antarctic to reduce the risk of translocation of microbial pathogens. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace Antarctic The Antarctic Ross Sea Landing The ENVELOPE(161.417,161.417,-78.367,-78.367) Polar Record 41 1 39 45
institution Open Polar
collection The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace
op_collection_id ftunivqespace
language English
topic Antarctic fauna
Pathogens
Chemical disinfectant
Bacteria
11 Medical and Health Sciences
1117 Public Health and Health Services
spellingShingle Antarctic fauna
Pathogens
Chemical disinfectant
Bacteria
11 Medical and Health Sciences
1117 Public Health and Health Services
Curry, C. H.
McCarthy, J. S.
Darragh, H. M.
Wake, R. A.
Churchill, S. E.
Robins, A. M.
Lowen, R. J.
Identification of an agent suitable for disinfecting boots of visitors to the Antarctic
topic_facet Antarctic fauna
Pathogens
Chemical disinfectant
Bacteria
11 Medical and Health Sciences
1117 Public Health and Health Services
description Studies of Antarctic fauna have led to tentative identification of a range of potential pathogens for both animals and humans. The rapid increase in visitors on tourist ships to the continent, now exceeding 10,000 per year, raises the concern that humans might transmit pathogens into and between wildlife colonies. The authors investigated the feasibility and efficacy of chemical disinfection of the microbial contamination on visitors' boots. During three voyages to penguin colonies in the Ross Sea, swabs were collected from the boots of visitors prior to landing, immediately on return to the ship, after a water wash, and after a chemical disinfectant wash using Virkon S. For the first two visits, abundant growth of bacteria was identified on boots at all three stages prior to disinfection. Following disinfection, the growth of bacteria was virtually eliminated. On the third visit, previously disinfected boots grew virtually no bacteria. After this landing the bacterial growth was substantially reduced by disinfection. These results indicate that consideration should be given to including disinfection in cleaning the boots of visitors to wildlife sites in the Antarctic to reduce the risk of translocation of microbial pathogens.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Curry, C. H.
McCarthy, J. S.
Darragh, H. M.
Wake, R. A.
Churchill, S. E.
Robins, A. M.
Lowen, R. J.
author_facet Curry, C. H.
McCarthy, J. S.
Darragh, H. M.
Wake, R. A.
Churchill, S. E.
Robins, A. M.
Lowen, R. J.
author_sort Curry, C. H.
title Identification of an agent suitable for disinfecting boots of visitors to the Antarctic
title_short Identification of an agent suitable for disinfecting boots of visitors to the Antarctic
title_full Identification of an agent suitable for disinfecting boots of visitors to the Antarctic
title_fullStr Identification of an agent suitable for disinfecting boots of visitors to the Antarctic
title_full_unstemmed Identification of an agent suitable for disinfecting boots of visitors to the Antarctic
title_sort identification of an agent suitable for disinfecting boots of visitors to the antarctic
publisher Cambridge University Press
publishDate 2005
url https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:191187
long_lat ENVELOPE(161.417,161.417,-78.367,-78.367)
geographic Antarctic
The Antarctic
Ross Sea
Landing The
geographic_facet Antarctic
The Antarctic
Ross Sea
Landing The
genre Antarc*
Antarctic
Ross Sea
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctic
Ross Sea
op_relation doi:10.1017/S0032247404003961
issn:1475-3057
issn:0032-2474
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247404003961
container_title Polar Record
container_volume 41
container_issue 1
container_start_page 39
op_container_end_page 45
_version_ 1766122204539387904