Think About This On Your Next Commute: Traces of Anthrax, Bubonic Plague Found in NYC Subway
Think about this the next time you grip a New York City subway pole: A new study has found that 48 percent of all DNA on the subway’s surface “matches no known organism.”
A study, published Friday by Cornell University, noted that “hundreds of species of bacteria are in the subway, mostly harmless. More riders bring more diversity.” This suggests there’s a “vast wealth of unknown species that are ubiquitous in urban areas” that New Yorkers touch every day.
It also found that one station that was flooded during Hurricane Sandy a few years ago to this day, “resembles a marine environment.”
In likely stressing out more commuters, the study, titled “Geospatial Resolution of Human and Bacterial Diversity with City-Scale Metagenomics,” also found traces of the bubonic plague and anthrax.
The Cornell Researchers spent about 18 months examining the entire subway system. Among the organisms that were identified, there were “1,688 bacterial, viral, archaeal, and eukaryotic taxa, which were enriched for harmless genera associated with skin,” the authors said.
Samples from trains, parks, waterways, subway stations, and trains (all the surfaces, including seats, poles, ceilings, floors, windows, and doors) were taken.
A bacteria heatmap was posted on the interactive website, PathoMap.
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