African desert dust in the Caribbean atmosphere: Microbiology and public health

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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1011868218901

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https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011868218901
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/28524

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UMBC GESTAR II
UMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET)

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9146-1632

Date

2001-09

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journal articles
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Griffin, D.W., Garrison, V.H., Herman, J.R. et al. African desert dust in the Caribbean atmosphere: Microbiology and public health. Aerobiologia 17, 203–213 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011868218901

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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Abstract

Air samples collected on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands were screened for the presence of viable bacteria and fungi to determine if the number of cultivatable microbes in the atmosphere differed between “clear atmospheric conditions” and “African dust-events.” Results indicate that during “African dust-events,” the numbers of cultivatable airborne microorganisms can be 2 to 3 times that found during “clear atmospheric conditions.” Direct microbial counts of air samples using an epifluorescent microscopy assay demonstrated that during an “African dust-event,” bacteria-like and virus-like particle counts were approximately one log greater than during “clear atmospheric conditions.” Bacteria-like particles exhibiting autofluoresence, a trait of phototrophs, were only detected during an “African dust-event.”