Research on mitigating risk from airborne pathogens in cars… but is there a risk?

Came across this study today “Airborne Pathogens inside Automobiles for Domestic Use: Assessing In-Car Air Decontamination Devices Using Staphylococcus aureus as the Challenge Bacterium”.   What struck me from the start was the Abstract which begins: Family cars represent ∼74% of the yearly global output of motorized vehicles. With a life expectancy of ∼8 decades in …

Biofilm-forming bacteria get ride on final space shuttle trip (on purpose)

The last flight of the Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for early July and there’ll be some cool microbes aboard.  Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are both biofilm-forming bacteria with serious health consequences, particularly in hospitals.  The researchers involved in this project are interested in the effects of microgravity on biofilm formation, and have some preliminary …

High levels of Staphylococcus contamination in US meat & poultry #microBEnet

Many news sources are reporting on a new study regarding levels of Staphylococcus in meat: (e.g., see Bacteria seen in nearly half of U.S. meat – CNN.com,  Study Warns of Tainted Meat, and Almost half of meat in stores may have drug-resistant bacteria). The study, by Lance Price, Paul Keim, and colleagues from TGen reports that …

Interesting blog post/paper from Tara Smith at Aetiology #microBEnet

Interesting blog post and paper from Tara Smith.  Her lab did some characterization of samples from kids and workers in childcare settings.  As part of their work they found some interesting varieties of Staphylococcus aureus.  For more detail see her post here: New paper: Staphylococcus aureus ST398 in a childcare worker : Aetiology.  If you have …