United States – The study also reveals that people will be exposed to more risks of getting infected with salmonella from food due to climate change.
Higher Humidity Linked to Increased Bacterial Diseases
Higher moisture levels, for instance, could ensure that crops like lettuce become prone to bacterial diseases like the type of leaf spot discussed in the above sources, as published by researchers in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology on August 29, as reported by HealthDay.
Salmonella Survival on Leafy Greens
In turn, those bacterial diseases can help salmonella survive in fresh vegetables such as leafy greens and thus increase the threat of food-related diseases in human beings.
“The impact of increased humidity on healthy plants also supported salmonella’s survival on plants, which would make climate change a food safety issue,” said researcher Jeri Barak, a professor of plant pathology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Controlling plant diseases such as bacterial leaf spots on lettuce is also important for food safety,” Barak said in a journal news release. “Climate change will increase the risk of foodborne illness from consumption of raw produce.”
Salmonella sickens 1.2 million people in the United States, background notes from research indicate. Plant-originating food is the main source of infection since salmonella bacteria may survive on many crops and remain in the soil for a long time.
Salmonella’s Prevalence in the U.S.
In a lab experiment, researchers change when leafy greens are inoculated with a bacteria that causes a leaf spot or, indeed, the salmonella bacteria, as reported by HealthDay.
High humidity facilitated an even faster growth of salmonella in lettuce, the study showed.
But again, high humid conditions supported the growth of this fungal disease that is called leaf spot and, in turn, supported the growth of salmonella in romaine lettuce, as data indicate.