https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.15212/ZOONOSES-2025-0012
Announcing a new article publication for
Zoonoses journal.
Livestock workers are exposed to bioaerosols comprising pathogens including influenza D virus (IDV), influenza A (IAV), and methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), all of which can colonize the upper airways (e.g., anterior nares) and pose public health risks. The role of the nasal microbiome in occupational exposure is not well understood.
The authors of this article characterized the nasal microbiomes of US dairy workers to investigate the microbiome’s effects on pathogen carriage. 237 lavages were collected from 31 dairy workers to determine the presence of influenzas A, C, and D; methicillin-susceptible
Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA); and MRSA. Nasal lavages were analyzed via PCR to quantify workers’ nasal microbiomes, and differences in microbiome characteristics were analyzed according to pathogen presence.
Overall, 32.1% of lavages tested positive for MSSA, 11.4% tested positive for MRSA, 17.3% tested positive for IDV, 2.5% tested positive for IAV, and 1.3% tested positive for ICV. Nasal samples positive for IAV and those positive for MSSA clustered separately with robust Aitchison PCA, but no significant differences in alpha diversity were observed. Differential abundance analysis revealed significant differences in genera among lavages testing positive for MRSA, MSSA, IDV, and IAV (e.g.,
Staphylococcus,
Streptococcus, and
Bacillus).
Future work is needed to ascertain whether the microbiome might protect against pathogen exposures among livestock workers.
# # # # # #
Zoonoses is fully open access journal for research scientists, physicians, veterinarians, and public health professionals working on diverse disciplinaries of zoonotic diseases. Please visit
https://zoonoses-journal.org/ to learn more about the journal.
Zoonoses is now open for submissions; articles can be submitted online at
https://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/zoonoses
There are no author submission or article processing fees.
Editorial Board: https://zoonoses-journal.org/index.php/editorial-board/
Zoonoses is available on
ScienceOpen (
https://www.scienceopen.com/search#collection/839df240-327f-47dd-b636-9b728dff9700).
Follow
Zoonoses on Twitter
@ZoonosesJ;
Facebook (
https://www.facebook.com/Zoonoses-Journal-100462755574114 ) and
LinkedIn (
https://www.linkedin.com/company/zoonoses/)
eISSN 2737-7474
ISSN 2737-7466
# # # # # #
James Seidel, Grant Erlandson and Sheryl Magzamen et al. Potential Roles of the Nasal Microbiome in Pathogen Exposures in Dairy Workers.
Zoonoses. 2025. Vol. 5(1). DOI: 10.15212/ZOONOSES-2025-0012