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Global spread of microorganisms by ships

Nature volume 408, pages 49–50 (2000)Cite this article

Ballast water discharged from vessels harbours a cocktail of potential pathogens.

Abstract

Commercial ships have spread many species around the world1,2,3, but little is known of the extent and potential significance of ship-mediated transfer of microorganisms3,4. Here we show that the global movement of ballast water by ships creates a long-distance dispersal mechanism for human pathogens and may be important in the worldwide distribution of microorganisms, as well as for the epidemiology of waterborne diseases affecting plants and animals.

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Figure 1: Chesapeake Bay, on the US East Coast, receives some ten billion litres of foreign ballast water each year.

PAUL SOUDERS/TONY STONE

Figure 2: Prevalence and concentration of Vibrio cholerae serotype O1 and O139 in ships' ballast water.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, PO Box 28, Edgewater, 21037, Maryland , USA

    Gregory M. Ruiz, Tonya K. Rawlings & Timothy Mullady

  2. Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, 701 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, 21202, Maryland

    Tonya K. Rawlings, Anwarul Huq & Rita R. Colwell

  3. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA

    Tonya K. Rawlings, Anwarul Huq & Rita R. Colwell

  4. Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, 23529, Virginia , USA

    Fred C. Dobbs & Lisa A. Drake

Authors
  1. Gregory M. Ruiz
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  2. Tonya K. Rawlings
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  3. Fred C. Dobbs
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  4. Lisa A. Drake
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  5. Timothy Mullady
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  6. Anwarul Huq
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  7. Rita R. Colwell
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Correspondence to Gregory M. Ruiz.

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Ruiz, G., Rawlings, T., Dobbs, F. et al. Global spread of microorganisms by ships. Nature 408, 49–50 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35040695

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