Public Health and Microbially Diverse Urban Greenspaces

In 1950, only a third of the global human population lived in cities. By 2030, over two-thirds of the human population is expected to be urban and exposed to different social, physical, and microbial environments, which contrast with the ecosystems in which humans evolved. Short- and long-term impacts of this local environmental change on human health are not well understood. Increased urbanization has been concurrent with a global increase in several diseases, particularly allergies and asthma and associated with altered microbial exposure. However, very little is known about how cities and urban-associated land use change impact microbial communities. Breed et al. present a strong argument for improving public health and ecological restoration in urban environments. Fungi are one of the key components of urban environments, can be negatively impacted by altered land-use and land-management, and are implicated in allergy, asthma, and chronic inflammatory conditions. Marczylo et al. sequenced fungal DNA within soils from five urban greenspaces, identifying differences in specific fungal taxa of relevance to environmental and public health. Mhuireach et al. collected air samples from high-versus low-diversity urban greenspaces to assess whether variations in aerobiome diversity or composition were associated with vegetation type or species diversity. Their results indicated that vegetation type and diversity were both important factors, but individual site location explained the largest portion of aerobiome variation. Results including these studies published in this issue will help improve urban planning in protecting and promoting the health of the urban environment and its residents.

Salmonella in an Urban Wading Birds

Murray et al. tested whether food provisioning in urban parks increases the risk of Salmonella enterica for the American white ibis. They found that ibises were more likely to shed Salmonella if they repeatedly used foraging areas with a higher prevalence of Salmonella in local soil and water. These results show that repeated use of capture sites was positively associated with food provisioning, and so, feeding birds in parks may increase risk of exposure to a zoonotic pathogen for urban birds by changing movement behavior.

West Nile Virus in Saudi Baboons

No reports exist of West Nile virus activity in baboons in Saudi Arabia. Olarinmoye et al. screened hamadryas baboons on the outskirts of Ta’if City. Their results confirmed West Nile virus and possibly other Flavivirus exposures and suggest local risk to public health.

Veterinary Experiences & One Health Strategies for CoVs

The application of relevant veterinary information to control, for prevention and treatment of COVID-19, and more broadly, spillover of coronaviruses from animals to humans and other animals has not been explored fully. Chan et al. provided veterinary practice experiences in coronavirus biosecurity, treatment and vaccination development, ecosystem and environmental considerations in support of infection prevention-control against coronaviruses towards strengthening human, animal and ecosystem health.

Bat Date Palm Feeding Behavior in Bangladesh

Using infrared cameras, Ausraful et al. explored seasonal patterns of bats feeding on date palm sap. They found that although the frequency of Pteropus bat visits to each tree was much lower than other bats visits, Pteropus bats stayed in contact with the sap longer than other species. Visits were more frequent in the winter months suggesting a seasonal risk of viral transmission to humans.

AMR in Deer & Dolphins

Ballash et al. used fecal E. coli from free-ranging white-tailed deer to investigate temporal shift in susceptibility to clinically relevant antibiotics over a ten-year period. The authors identified increasing trend of E. coli with reduced susceptibility to cephalosporin and fluoroquinolone antibiotics and multidrug resistant phenotypes. In the Amazon, Castelo-Branco et al. evaluated antimicrobial susceptibility of gram-negative bacteria recovered from free-ranging dolphins from the Negro and the Tapajós River populations. They found that 51.6% of the isolates were not-susceptible and of these 22.9% were resistant to at least one antimicrobial. The authors concluded that free-ranging Amazon river dolphins that were never treated with antimicrobials host resistant bacteria, contributing for their maintenance in the environment. Both studies show the importance of understanding the dynamics of AMR epidemiology in natural settings that highlight the importance of a One Health approach in monitoring the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.

Drivers of Erysipelas in Wild Boar

Wild boar species may impose risks at the wildlife-domestic animal-human interface because of similarities with domestic pigs and increasing population densities. Formenti et al. found high seroprevalence of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae among wild boars and identified a role of human and pig farm density on seropositivity. Their observations of Erysipelas in healthy wild boar suggest that they have an important role in transmission.

Adenoviruses in British Lizards

Donald et al. present their discovery of two novel and closely-related adenoviruses in two species of free-living native British lizards. Although, it is unknown if infection in the lizards examined was associated with disease, the authors discussed the possibility that the adenoviruses are normal commensal agents of British lizards.