Aircraft toilets are at the forefront of a global effort to combat the spread of superbugs.
An Australian-led world-wide study has analysed wastewater from the toilets in an attempt to develop a critical warning system for the global spread of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) superbugs.
CSIRO principal research scientist Warish Ahmed said the superbugs were a silent pandemic that threatened to kill more people than cancer by 2050.
Dr Ahmed said through a collaboration with Xiamen University, the University of South Australia and Michigan Technological University, lavatory wastewater from 44 international flights arriving in Australia from nine countries was analysed.
He said the team detected nine high-priority pathogens and superbugs, including some that were acquired in hospitals and resistant to multiple drugs.
“Five of the nine superbugs were found in all 44 flight samples, while a gene conferring resistance to last-resort antibiotics was detected on 17 flights.
“Notably, this gene was absent in Australia’s urban wastewater during the same period, suggesting its likely introduction through international travel.”
Dr Ahmed said the findings confirmed that aircraft wastewater was a viable tool for global AMR surveillance.
Read the full study: Aircraft lavatory wastewater surveillance for movement of antimicrobial resistance genes: a proof-of-concept study.
