Florida researcher to study high-altitude dust for health risks

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – A Florida researcher is preparing to test massive dust storms in the upper atmosphere that roll in from Africa to see whether pathogens raining down on the state could be responsible for plant, animal or human disease. University of Florida aerobiologist Andrew Schuerger said his air sampling device mounted under the wing of an F-104 Starfighter jet is the first capable of capturing particles directly from the clouds which drop 50 million metric tons of dust a year on U.S. soil. The effort will be the most in-depth yet to test the health risks of the dust clouds which cross the Atlantic in summer, according to Scheurger. A few previous studies of small samples collected at ground level suggest the presence of Bacillus megaterium, Serratia liquefaciens, and species of Streptomyces and Pseudomonas, all of which are potential plant or human pathogens.