Healthy soils are teeming with life, including bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microbes, collectively known as the soil microbiome. Now, global research suggests that when this biodiversity is reduced, soil-dwelling human pathogens may be more likely to gain a foothold. As climate change makes many regions warmer and wetter, those risks are likely to grow, particularly in intensively managed agricultural landscapes. This insight comes from a comprehensive global assessment of soil-dwelling pathogens that provides important information to help guide pathogen surveillance, risk prediction and land management strategies aimed at reducing disease outbreaks.

KAUST’s Fernando Maestre was part of the study, led by the University of Western Australia, which analyzed 1,602 soil samples from 59 countries. The team identified 80 bacterial taxa classified as potential soil-inhabiting human pathogens. Among these, 25 taxa were identified as dominant because they were widespread, present in at least 80 percent of samples, and highly abundant within the pathogen community.

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