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<p>The recent pandemic, pathogen outbreaks, and devastating effects of invasive species in natural environments highlight the importance of global movements of organisms. Humans have facilitated global transport and the introduction of alien species via direct and indirect pathways. However, the complexities and possible dangers of the global transmission of microorganisms are not fully understood. Human footwear can be a potential vector for transmitting pathogenic and invasive microorganisms. Here, we investigated the biosecurity risks associated with the footwear of passengers arriving from various countries at Tallinn International Airport, Tallinn, Estonia. We collected dust or soil samples from passengers’ footwear and characterised the fungal and bacterial communities using metabarcoding. To evaluate potential risks to human and ecosystem health, we cross-referenced detected OTUs with the World Health Organization (WHO) priority pathogen lists and other curated fungal and bacterial databases. Our results suggested that the alpha diversity of fungal and bacterial OTUs carried by passengers’ footwear was not affected by geographical region or season. Whether the passenger had soil or dust on their footwear also had no significant effect on bacterial and fungal alpha diversity. Furthermore, our results showed that passengers’ footwear poses a biosecurity risk by transporting various types of pathogens, including plant and animal pathogens, as well as mycoparasites. Several types of bacterial and fungal human pathogens were also transported to the destination airport, among which many belonged to high-priority and critical risk groups defined by the WHO. The majority of the bacterial and fungal OTUs transferred by passengers’ footwear had not previously been reported from Estonia, which raises concern about their potential to become invasive in the future. Our results highlight the need to establish biosecurity measures in European airports. Further investigations are needed to assess the relationships between country-level factors and the potential biosecurity risks posed by passengers arriving from different countries.</p>

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Invisible passengers: the diversity and invasion risks of fungi and bacteria transported via footwear of international airport passengers

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月4日

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  • Niloufar Hagh-Doust,
  • Ali Hakimzadeh,
  • John Yangyuoru Kupagme,
  • Glen Dierickx,
  • Ovidiu Copoț,
  • Vladimir Mikryukov,
  • Leho Tedersoo

摘要

The recent pandemic, pathogen outbreaks, and devastating effects of invasive species in natural environments highlight the importance of global movements of organisms. Humans have facilitated global transport and the introduction of alien species via direct and indirect pathways. However, the complexities and possible dangers of the global transmission of microorganisms are not fully understood. Human footwear can be a potential vector for transmitting pathogenic and invasive microorganisms. Here, we investigated the biosecurity risks associated with the footwear of passengers arriving from various countries at Tallinn International Airport, Tallinn, Estonia. We collected dust or soil samples from passengers’ footwear and characterised the fungal and bacterial communities using metabarcoding. To evaluate potential risks to human and ecosystem health, we cross-referenced detected OTUs with the World Health Organization (WHO) priority pathogen lists and other curated fungal and bacterial databases. Our results suggested that the alpha diversity of fungal and bacterial OTUs carried by passengers’ footwear was not affected by geographical region or season. Whether the passenger had soil or dust on their footwear also had no significant effect on bacterial and fungal alpha diversity. Furthermore, our results showed that passengers’ footwear poses a biosecurity risk by transporting various types of pathogens, including plant and animal pathogens, as well as mycoparasites. Several types of bacterial and fungal human pathogens were also transported to the destination airport, among which many belonged to high-priority and critical risk groups defined by the WHO. The majority of the bacterial and fungal OTUs transferred by passengers’ footwear had not previously been reported from Estonia, which raises concern about their potential to become invasive in the future. Our results highlight the need to establish biosecurity measures in European airports. Further investigations are needed to assess the relationships between country-level factors and the potential biosecurity risks posed by passengers arriving from different countries.