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Enduring pathogenicity of African strains of Salmonella on plastics and glass in simulated peri-urban environmental waste piles
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Researchers tested whether dangerous Salmonella bacteria can survive on discarded plastic and glass surfaces under conditions found in African urban waste piles. They found that multiple strains of Salmonella, including those that cause typhoid, remained alive and infectious on these surfaces for at least 28 days. The study highlights that plastic pollution in developing countries may serve as a reservoir for disease-causing bacteria.
In low- and middle-income countries, plastic has become a major constituent of landfills and urban dump sites. Environmental plastic pollution can also provide a novel surface for the formation of microbial biofilm, which often includes pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Here, under conditions simulating a peri-urban waste pile typical of an African informal settlement, we aimed to determine if pathogenic Salmonella spp. can retain their virulence following a prolonged period of desiccation on the surfaces of environmental plastic and glass. We show that clinically (and environmentally) relevant strains of Salmonella including S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium and S. Typhi can persist on plastic and glass for at least 28-days and that temperature (which increases with the depth of an urban waste pile) is a key determinant of this survival. All three strains of Salmonella retained their pathogenicity (determined by using a Galleria mellonella model of infection) following their recovery from the plastisphere indicating that plastics in the environment can act as reservoirs for human pathogens and could facilitate their persistence for extended periods of time. Pathogens colonising environmental plastic waste therefore pose a heightened public health risk, particularly in areas where people are frequently exposed to plastic pollution.
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Researchers investigating urban farms in Tanzania found that plastic debris in soil and water harbored significantly higher concentrations of dangerous bacteria — including E. coli and Salmonella — than the surrounding soil or water, and that 69% of those bacteria were resistant to multiple antibiotics. The findings show that plastic waste can act as a reservoir that concentrates drug-resistant pathogens, posing risks to both farmers and food consumers.
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This year-long spatiotemporal study in a densely populated informal settlement in Malawi found that urban waste piles, including plastic debris, harbor high concentrations of multidrug-resistant enteric bacterial pathogens including ESBL-producing E. coli, Salmonella, and Vibrio cholerae. Elevated pathogen levels preceded infection outbreaks, suggesting that plastic-rich urban waste accumulation is a key source of community transmission of antimicrobial-resistant infections in low-income settings.
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