Are dust storms from Western India causing respiratory, skin diseases in Eastern Himalayas? Study reveals troubling link

New research reveals that airborne pathogens are reaching the hills of the Eastern Himalayas. These germs are linked to respiratory and skin diseases. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Science & Technology issued a press release warning of the health risks posed by these “desert bacteria”.

The study, conducted by the Bose Institute, shows that powerful dust storms can travel hundreds of kilometres. These storms pick up particles as they cross the densely populated and polluted Indo-Gangetic Plain. Eventually, the dust settles on Himalayan hilltops, posing a serious risk to public health.

Experts from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) monitored dust storms for over two years before arriving at conclusions.

The findings, published in the journal “Science of the Total Environment”, indicate perturbation of the atmospheric bacterial community over the Himalayas. Horizontal long-range dust transport and vertical uplifting of foothill air pollution cause this phenomenon. The study demonstrates direct implications of airborne microbial exposure on public health.

Since vertical uplift injects locally sourced pathogens into the high-altitude atmosphere, transported pathogens mix with long-range travellers arriving from afar. Hence, dust storms reshape bacterial communities above the Himalayas and contribute to gastrointestinal infections, in addition to respiratory and skin diseases.

Another journal published by the Weizmann Institute of Science, titled “Dust storm-driven dispersal of potential pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes in the Eastern Mediterranean”, reveals similar findings.

Researchers examined 13 “dusty days” with air originating in the Middle East. They used metagenomic analysis—a way of studying genetic material from environmental samples—to identify several pathogens.

These included Klebsiella pneumoniae and Aspergillus fumigatus, which are linked to human lung diseases. They also found fungi like Puccinia striiformis, which harm wheat crops. The study noted that the number of these pathogens increased during storms and as temperatures rose.

Covering the Saharan Desert, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, and including 32 clear days, the study further noted that dust storms transported nearly 125 times more total antibiotic resistance genes than clear conditions. However, researchers could not establish “strong evidence that these species harboured antibiotic resistance or virulence-related genes, which could be linked to their pathogenic potential."