Clinical staff MRSA carriage and environmental contamination by other “superbugs” found in Portuguese veterinary practices

Reports and Proceedings

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

**Note: the release below is from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023, Copenhagen, 15-18 April). Please credit the conference if you use this story**

Examination tables, scales and other surfaces in small animal veterinary practices are frequently contaminated with multidrug-resistant “superbugs”, the results of a Portuguese study suggest.

The research, which is being presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark, (15-18 April) found that 19% of surfaces harboured at least one multidrug-resistant bacterium.

Dogs, cats and other pets are known to contribute to the spread of multidrug-resistant pathogens that can cause human disease. Small animal veterinary practices (SAVPs) are a potentially important link in the spread of these pathogens and, with numbers of SAVPs growing in Portugal, it is important to determine the prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in this part of the veterinary sector.

Joana Moreira da Silva and colleagues from the Antibiotic Resistance Lab at Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health (CIISA), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal studied eight SAVPs, all of which were in Lisbon and the outskirts. 

Critical surfaces, including surgical tables, shearing blades, examination tables and weighing scales were swabbed and nasal swabs were obtained from the vets, veterinary nurses and other staff.

The swabs were tested for the presence of multidrug-resistant bacteria.

At least one multidrug-resistant bacterium was found on 18.9% (34/182) of the surfaces tested.  These include Acinetobacter spp. and Staphylococci, including S. pseudintermedius. These bacteria are responsible for highly resistant clinical infections in both human and veterinary medicine.

In one of the veterinary practices, 18.2% of the tested surfaces (4/22) were positive for OXA-23-producing Acinetobacter spp. These bacteria, which were found on several different surfaces, are resistant to carbapenem antibiotics.  Carbapenems are prohibited in veterinary medicine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA)1 and play vital role in human medicine, where they are part of the last line of treatment when other antibiotics have failed.

Together with previous studies which found carbapenem-resistant infections in pets2, this highlights the possibility that SAVPs may play a role in the dissemination of multidrug-resistant bacteria into the community.

No methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was found on any of the surfaces tested.

Approximately 23% of workers were carrying MRSA. While MRSA is not common in veterinary medicine, nasal carriage is common in human healthcare settings and in the community.

However, if MRSA gets deeper into the body, via wounds or catheters, for example, it cause lung, skin and other infections, some of which can be life-threatening. The bacterium is on the World Health Organisation’s list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens” – meaning it is among the bacteria judged to pose the greatest risk to human health.3

Ms Moreira da Silva, a PhD student, says: “Our findings highlight the need to implement and monitor infection, prevention and control (IPC) guidelines in small animal veterinary practices.

“The inclusion of monitoring of workers for the nasal carriage of MRSA is also important to consider when designing IPC guidelines. Such measures might prevent the dissemination of multidrug-resistant bacteria into the community.

“People should not be afraid to take pets to the vet – it is still by far the best place for them to receive care.”

Joana Moreira da Silva, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal T) +351 21 365 2837 E) jmsilva@fmv.ulisboa.pt

Professor Constança Pomba, Team leader of the Antibiotic Resistance Lab at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal. T) +351 21 365 2837 E) cpomba@fmv.ulisboa.pt

Alternative contact: Tony Kirby in the ECCMID Media Centre. T) +44 7834 385827 E) tony@tonykirby.com

Notes to editors:

References:

1. European Medicines Agency (EMA). (2019). Categorisation of antibiotics in the European Union. 31(12 December 2019). https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/report/categorisation-antibiotics-european-union-answer-request-european-commission-updating-scientific_en.pdf

2. Moreira da Silva, J., Menezes, J., Mendes, G., Santos Costa, S., Caneiras, C., Poirel, L., Amaral, A. J., & Pomba, C. (2022). KPC-3-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Sequence Type 392 from a Dog’s Clinical Isolate in Portugal. Microbiology Spectrum, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.00893-22

3. https://www.who.int/news/item/27-02-2017-who-publishes-list-of-bacteria-for-which-new-antibiotics-are-urgently-needed

Conflicts of interest: institutional grants and research support.

This project was funded by CIISA and FCT Project UIDB/00276/2020 and LA/P/0059/2020 – AL4AnimalS. This project was funded by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia I.P., within the project 2022.08669.PTDC. JMS, JM and LF were supported by a Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) PhD fellowship (2020.06540.BD; 2020.07562.BD; UI/BD/153070/2022, respectively).

This press release is based on abstract 279 at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) annual meeting. The material has been peer reviewed by the congress selection committee.  There is no full paper at this stage.

For full abstract click here

For full poster click here

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ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Apr-2023

COI STATEMENT

Conflicts of interest: institutional grants and research support. This project was funded by CIISA and FCT Project UIDB/00276/2020 and LA/P/0059/2020 – AL4AnimalS. This project was funded by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia I.P., within the project 2022.08669.PTDC. JMS, JM and LF were supported by a Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) PhD fellowship (2020.06540.BD; 2020.07562.BD; UI/BD/153070/2022, respectively).

UK-Portuguese study shows antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” are being passed between dogs and cats and their owners, study strongly suggests

People in UK and Portugal carrying same multidrug-resistant bacteria as their pets; call for dogs and cats to be included in assessments of antibiotic resistance

Reports and Proceedings

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

**Note: the release below is from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023, Copenhagen, 15-18 April). Please credit the conference if you use this story**

Evidence that multidrug-resistant bacteria are being passed between pet cats and dogs and their owners will be presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark (15-18 April).

Six pets in Portugal and one in the UK were carrying antibiotic-resistant bacteria similar to those found in their owners, a Portuguese study found.

The finding underlines the importance of including pet-owning households in programmes to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is reaching dangerously high levels around the world. Drug-resistant infections kill an estimated 700,000 people a year globally and, with the figure projected to rise to 10 million by 2050 if no action is taken, the World Health Organisation (WHO) classes antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest public health threats facing humanity.

Dogs, cats and other pets are known to contribute to the spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that can cause human disease.  Juliana Menezes and colleagues from the Antibiotic Resistance Lab at the Centre of Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal wanted to find out if pets being treated with antibiotics for infections are sharing such pathogens with their owners.

The researchers tested faecal samples from dogs and cats and their owners for Enterobacterales (a large family of bacteria which includes E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) resistant to common antibiotics.

They focused on bacteria resistant to third generation cephalosporins (used to treat a broad range of conditions, including meningitis, pneumonia and sepsis, they are classed among the most critically important antibiotics for human medicine by the World Health Organisation) and carbapenems (part of the last line of defence when other antibiotics have failed).The prospective longitudinal study involved five cats, 38 dogs and 78 humans from 43 households in Portugal and seven dogs and eight humans from seven households in the UK.  

In Portugal, one dog (1/43 pets, 2.3%) was colonised by a strain of multidrug-resistant OXA-181-producing Escherichia coli. OXA-181 is an enzyme that confers resistance to carbapenems.

Three cats and 21 dogs (24/43 pets, 55.8%) and 28 owners (28/78, 35.9%) harboured ESBL/Amp-C producing Enterobacterales.  These are resistant to third generation cephalosporins.

In eight households, two houses with cats and six with dogs, both pet and owner were carrying ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria. In six of these homes, the DNA of the bacteria isolated from the pets (one cat and five dogs) and their owners was similar, meaning these bacteria were probably passed between the animals and humans.  It is not known whether they were transferred from pet to human or vice versa. 

In the UK, one dog (1/7,14.3%) was colonised by multidrug-resistant E. coli producing NDM-5 and CTX-M-15 beta-lactamases. These E. coli are resistant to third generation cephalosporins, carbapenems and several other families of antibiotics.

ESBL/AmpC-producing Enterobacterales were isolated from five dogs (5/7, 71.4%) and three owners (3/8, 37.5%).

In two households with dogs, both pet and owner were carrying ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria.   In one of these homes, the DNA of the bacteria isolated from the dog and owner was similar, suggesting the bacteria probably passed from one to the other. The direction of transfer is unclear.

All of the dogs and cats were successfully treated for their skin, soft tissue and urinary tract infections.

The owners did not have infections and so did not need treatment.

Ms Menezes, a PhD student, says: “In this study, we provide evidence that bacteria resistant to a third generation cephalosporins, critically important antibiotics, are being passed from pets to their owners.

“Dogs and cats may aid the spread and persistence of such bacteria in the community and it is vitally important that they are included in assessments of antimicrobial resistance.

“Owners can reduce the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria by practising good hygiene, including washing their hands after collecting their dog or cat’s waste and even after petting them.”

Juliana Menezes, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon,  Portugal.  T) +351 21 365 2837  E) julianamenezes@fmv.ulisboa.pt

Professor Constança Pomba, Team leader of the Antibiotic Resistance Lab at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal. T) +351 21 365 2837 E) cpomba@fmv.ulisboa.pt

Alternative contact: Tony Kirby in the ECCMID Media Centre. T) +44 7834 385827 E) tony@tonykirby.com

Notes to editors:

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

The work was supported by JPIAMR/0002/2016 Project—PET-Risk Consortium and by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia IP (UIDB/00276/2020); JM and JMS were supported by a PhD fellowship (2020.07562.BD; 2020.06540.BD, respectively).

 

This press release is based on oral presentation 208 at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) annual meeting. The material has been peer reviewed by the congress selection committee.  There is no full paper at this stage and, as it is an oral presentation, there is no poster.

Ancient DNA reveals the multiethnic structure of Mongolia’s first nomadic empire

The Xiongnu dominated the Eurasian steppes two millennia ago and foreshadowed the rise of the Mongol Empire

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY

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IMAGE: THE XIONGNU BUILT A MULTIETHNIC EMPIRE ON THE MONGOLIAN STEPPE THAT WAS CONNECTED BY TRADE TO ROME, EGYPT, AND IMPERIAL CHINA. ARTIST RECONSTRUCTION OF LIFE AMONG THE XIONGNU IMPERIAL ELITE BY GALMANDAKH AMARSANAA. view more 

CREDIT: © DAIRYCULTURES PROJECT

Long obscured in the shadows of history, the world’s first nomadic empire - the Xiongnu - is at last coming into view thanks to painstaking archaeological excavations and new ancient DNA evidence. Arising on the Mongolian steppe 1,500 years before the Mongols, the Xiongnu empire grew to be one of Iron Age Asia’s most powerful political forces - ultimately stretching its reach and influence from Egypt to Rome to Imperial China. Economically grounded in animal husbandry and dairying, the Xiongnu were famously nomadic, building their empire on the backs of horses. Their proficiency at mounted warfare made them swift and formidable foes, and their legendary conflicts with Imperial China ultimately led to the construction of the Great Wall.

However, unlike their neighbors, the Xiongnu never developed a writing system, and consequently historical records about the Xiongnu have been almost entirely written and passed down by their rivals and enemies. Such accounts, largely recorded by Han Dynasty chroniclers, provide little useful information on the origins of the Xiongnu, their political rise, or their social organization. Although recent archaeogenetics studies have now traced the origins of the Xiongnu as a political entity to a sudden migration and mixing of disparate nomadic groups in northern Mongolia ca. 200 BCE, such findings have raised more questions than answers.

To better understand the inner workings of the seemingly enigmatic Xiongnu empire, an international team of researchers at the Max Planck Institutes for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) and Geoanthropology (MPI-GEO), Seoul National University, the University of Michigan, and Harvard University conducted an in-depth genetic investigation of two imperial elite Xiongnu cemeteries along the western frontier of the empire: an aristocratic elite cemetery at Takhiltyn Khotgor and a local elite cemetery at Shombuuzyn Belchir.

“We knew that the Xiongnu had a high degree of genetic diversity, but due to a lack of community-scale genomic data it remained unclear whether this diversity emerged from a heterogeneous patchwork of locally homogenous communities or whether local communities were themselves genetically diverse,” explains Juhyeon Lee, first author of the study and PhD student at Seoul National University. “We wanted to know how such genetic diversity was structured at different social and political scales, as well as in relation to power, wealth, and gender.”

The rise of a multiethnic empire

Researchers found that individuals within the two cemeteries exhibited extremely high genetic diversity, to a degree comparable with that found across the Xiongnu Empire as a whole. In fact, high genetic diversity and heterogeneity was present at all levels – across the empire, within individual communities, and even within individual families - confirming the characterization of the Xiongnu Empire as a multiethnic empire. However, much of this diversity was stratified by status. The lowest status individuals (interred as satellite burials of the elites, likely reflecting a servant status) exhibited the highest genetic diversity and heterogeneity, suggesting that these individuals originated from far-flung parts of the Xiongnu Empire or beyond. In contrast, local and aristocratic elites buried in wood-plank coffins within square tombs and stone ring graves exhibited lower overall genetic diversity and harbored higher proportions of eastern Eurasian ancestries, suggesting that elite status and power was concentrated among specific genetic subsets of the broader Xiongnu population. Nevertheless, even elite families appear to have used marriage to cement ties to newly incorporated groups, especially at Shombuuzyn Belchir.

“We now have a better idea of how the Xiongnu expanded their empire by incorporating disparate groups and leveraging marriage and kinship into empire building,” says senior author Dr. Choongwon Jeong, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University.

Powerful women in Xiongnu society

A second major finding was that high status Xiongnu burials and elite grave goods were disproportionately associated with women, corroborating textual and archaeological evidence that Xiongnu women played especially prominent political roles in the expansion and integration of new territories along the empire’s frontier. At the aristocratic elite cemetery of Takhiltyn Khotgor, researchers found that the elite monumental tombs had been built for women, with each prominent woman flanked by a host of commoner males buried in simple graves. The women were interred in elaborate coffins with the golden sun and moon emblems of Xiongnu imperial power and one tomb even contained a team of six horses and a partial chariot. At the nearby local elite cemetery of Shombuuzyn Belchir, women likewise occupied the wealthiest and most elaborate graves, with grave goods consisting of wooden coffins, golden emblems and gilded objects, glass and faience beads, Chinese mirrors, a bronze cauldron, silk clothing, wooden carts, and more than a dozen livestock, as well as three objects conventionally associated with male horse-mounted warriors: a Chinese lacquer cup, a gilded iron belt clasp, and horse tack. Such objects and their symbolism convey the great political power of the women.

“Women held great power as agents of the Xiongnu imperial state along the frontier, often holding exclusive noble ranks, maintaining Xiongnu traditions, and engaging in both steppe power politics and the so-called Silk Road networks of exchange,” says Dr. Bryan Miller, project archaeologist and Assistant Professor of Central Asian Art & Archaeology at the University of Michigan.

Children in Xiongnu society

Genetic analysis also provided rare insights into the social roles of children in Xiongnu society. “Children received differential mortuary treatment depending upon age and sex, giving clues to the ages at which gender and status were ascribed in Xiongnu society,” says senior author Dr. Christina Warinner, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University and Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Researchers found, for example, that although adolescent Xiongnu boys as young as 11-12 years old were buried with a bow and arrows, in a manner resembling that of adult males, younger boys were not. This suggests that the gendered social roles of hunter and warrior were not ascribed to boys until late childhood or early adolescence.

The legacy of the Xiongnu today

Although the Xiongnu empire ultimately disintegrated in the late 1st century CE, the findings of the study point to the enduring social and cultural legacy of the Xiongnu. “Our results confirm the long-standing nomadic tradition of elite princesses playing critical roles in the political and economic life of the empires, especially in periphery regions - a tradition that began with the Xiongnu and continued more than a thousand years later under the Mongol Empire,” says Dr. Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan, project archaeologist and Mongolian Archaeology Project: Surveying the Steppes (MAPSS) project coordinator at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology. “While history has at times dismissed nomadic empires as fragile and short, their strong traditions have never been broken.”

Excavation of the Xiongnu Elite Tomb 64 containing a high status aristocratic woman at the site of Takhiltiin Khotgor, Mongolian Altai.

Excavation of the Xiongnu Elite Tomb 64 containing a high status aristocratic woman at the site of Takhiltiin Khotgor, Mongolian Altai.

CREDIT

© Michel Neyroud

Archaeological excavation at the Shombuuziin Belchir Xiongnu cemetery, Mongolian Altai.

CREDIT

© J. Bayarsaikhan

An Egyptian-style faience bead worn as part of a necklace by a young woman buried with an infant in Grave 19 of the Shombuuziin Belchir cemetery. Such beads, depicting the phallus of the Egyptian god Bes, are associated with the protection of children.

CREDIT

© Bryan K. Miller

Golden icons of the sun and moon, symbols of the Xiongnu, decorating the coffin found in Elite Tomb 64 at the Takhiltiin Khotgor site, Mongolian Altai.

CREDIT

© J. Bayarsaikhan

Child’s bow and arrow set from Grave 26 at the Shombuuziin Belchir cemetery.

CREDIT

© Bryan K. Miller

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adf3904 

ARTICLE TITLE

Genetic population structure of the Xiongnu Empire at imperial and local scales

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Apr-2023

CTHULHU STUDIES

Tracking a new path to octopus and squid sensing capabilities

Research reveals that the octopus explores the marine environment with sensing features that are evolutionarily related to human brain receptors

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO

 

VIDEO: A CALIFORNIA TWO-SPOT OCTOPUS (OCTOPUS BIMACULOIDES) USES ITS ARM SUCKERS TO SECURE A FIDDLER CRAB. RESEARCH LED BY UC SAN DIEGO (HIBBS LAB) AND HARVARD UNIVERSITY (BELLONO LAB) HAS TRACED THE EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATIONS OF OCTOPUS AND SQUID SENSING CAPABILITIES. THE STUDIES, FEATURED ON THE COVER OF THE APRIL 13, 2023 ISSUE OF NATURE, REVEAL EVOLUTIONARY LINKS TO HUMAN BRAIN RECEPTORS. view more 

CREDIT: ANIK GREARSON AND PETER KILIAN

Along their eight arms, octopuses have highly sensitive suckers that allow methodical explorations of the seafloor as they search for nourishment in a “taste by touch” approach. Squids, on the other hand, use a much different tactic to find their next meal: patiently hiding until they ambush their prey in swift bursts.

In a unique analysis that provides a glimpse into the origin stories of new animal traits, a pair of research studies led by University of California San Diego and Harvard University scientists has traced the evolutionary adaptations of octopus and squid sensing capabilities. The studies, featured on the cover of the April 13 issue of Nature, reveal evolutionary links to human brain receptors.

Researchers with Ryan Hibbs’ newly established laboratory in the School of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego (formerly based at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center) and Nicholas Bellono’s lab at Harvard analyzed octopuses and squids, animals known as cephalopods, through a comprehensive lens that spanned atomic-level protein structure to the entire functional organism. They focused on sensory receptors as a key site for evolutionary innovation at the crossroads of ecology, neural processing and behavior.

By looking at the way octopuses and squids sense their marine environments, the researchers discovered new sensory receptor families and determined how they drive distinct behaviors in the environment. With cryo-electron microscopy technology, which uses cryogenic temperatures to capture biological processes and structures in unique ways, they showed that adaptations can help propel new behaviors.

“Cephalopods are well known for their intricate sensory organs, elaborate nervous systems and sophisticated behaviors that are comparable to complex vertebrates, but with radically different organization,” said Hibbs, a professor in the Department of Neurobiology. Hibbs brings expertise on the structure of a family of proteins in humans that mediate communication between brain neurons and other areas such as between neurons and muscle cells. “Cephalopods provide striking examples of convergent and divergent evolution that can be leveraged to understand the molecular basis of novelty across levels of biological organization.”

In one Nature study, the research teams described for the first time the structure of an octopus chemotactile (meaning chemical and touch) receptor, which octopus arms use for taste-by-touch exploration. These chemotactile receptors are similar to human brain and muscle neurotransmitter receptors, but are adapted through evolution to help evaluate possible food sources in the marine environment.

“In octopus, we found that these chemotactile receptors physically contact surfaces to determine whether the animal should eat a potential food source or reject it,” said Hibbs. “Through its structure, we found that these receptors are activated by greasy molecules, including steroids similar to cholesterol. With evolutionary, biophysical and behavioral analyses, we showed how strikingly novel structural adaptations facilitate the receptor’s transition from an ancestral role in neurotransmission to a new function in contact-dependent chemosensation of greasy environmental chemicals.”

The second Nature study focused on squid and their wholly different ambush strategy for capturing food. The researchers combined genetics, physiology and behavioral experiments to discover a new class of ancient chemotactile receptors and determined one structure within the class. They also conducted an evolutionary analysis to link adaptations in squid receptors to more elaborate expansions in octopus. They were then able to place chemotactile and ancestral neurotransmitter receptors on an evolutionary timeline and described how evolutionary adaptations drove the development of new behaviors.

“We discovered a new family of cell surface receptors that offer a rare lens into the evolution of sensation because they represent the most recent and only functionally tractable transition from neurotransmitter to environmental receptors across the entire animal kingdom,” said Hibbs. “Our structures of these unique cephalopod receptors lay a foundation for the mechanistic understanding of major functional transitions in deep evolutionary time and the origin of biological novelty.”

Hibbs says the pair of new studies offers an excellent example of how curiosity in interesting creatures can lead to insights important for all of biology, namely how proteins—life’s building blocks—adapt to mediate new functions and behaviors.

“These studies are a great example of what being a scientist is all about—wonder, exploration and understanding how things work,” he said.

Octopus chemotactile receptor (VIDEO)

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO

Research led by UC San Diego (Hibbs Lab) and Harvard University (Bellono Lab) has traced the evolutionary adaptations of octopus and squid sensing capabilities. The research teams described for the first time the structure of an octopus chemotactile (meaning chemical and touch) receptor, which octopus arms use for taste-by-touch exploration. These chemotactile receptors are similar to human brain and muscle neurotransmitter receptors, but are adapted and evolved to help evaluate possible food sources in the marine environment.

CREDIT

Guipeun Kang

Research led by UC San Diego and Harvard has traced the evolutionary adaptations of octopus and squid sensing capabilities. The researchers describe for the first time the structure of an octopus chemotactile receptor, which octopus arms use for taste-by-touch exploration of the seafloor.

CREDIT

Anik Grearson and Peter Kilian

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-023-05808-z 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Sensory specializations drive octopus and squid behaviour

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

12-Apr-2023

2022 Tongan volcanic explosion was largest natural explosion in over a century, new study finds

Despite size, the mega-tsunami generated enormous waves, claimed few lives

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI ROSENSTIEL SCHOOL OF MARINE, ATMOSPHERIC, AND EARTH SCIENCE

 

VIDEO: ANIMATION OF THE TSUNAMI PROPAGATION ACROSS THE TONGA ARCHIPELAGO view more 

CREDIT: STEVEN N. WARD - INSTITUTE OF GEOPHYSICS AND PLANETARY PHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ, U.S.A.

The 2022 eruption of a submarine volcano in Tonga was more powerful than the largest U.S. nuclear explosion, according to a new study led by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation.  

The 15-megaton volcanic explosion from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, one of the largest natural explosions in more than a century, generated a mega-tsunami with waves up to 45-meters high (148 feet) along the coast of Tonga’s Tofua Island and waves up to 17 meters (56 feet) on Tongatapu, the country’s most populated island.

In a new analysis in Science Advances, Rosenstiel School researchers used a combination of before-and-after satellite imagery, drone mapping, and field observations collected by scientists at The University of Auckland, and data from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation Global Reef Expedition, to produce a tsunami simulation of the Tongan Archipelago. The results showed how the complex shallow bathymetry in the region acted as a low-velocity wave trap, capturing a more than hour-long tsunami with waves up to 85 meters (279 feet) high one minute after the initial explosion.

The submarine volcanic eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, which forms the island chain of Tonga and is a result of the convergence of the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, rivaled the 1883 eruption of Krakatau that killed over 36,000 people.

“Despite its size and long duration, the mega-tsumani that resulted from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai claimed few lives,” said Sam Purkis, professor and chair of the Department of Marine Geosciences at the Rosenstiel School. “The main factors that led to this, we suggest, are the quirk of the location, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increased evaluation drills and awareness efforts carried out in Tonga in the years prior to the eruption.”

The simulation also suggested that the eruption location relative to urban centers saved Tonga from a worse outcome.

“While 2022 may have been a lucky escape, other submarine volcanoes possess the capacity to spawn a future tsunami at the same scale, said Purkis, who is also chief scientist at the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation “This eruption holds important lessons for both past and future tsunami in Tonga and beyond. The eruption was an excellent natural laboratory to test hypotheses and models that can be deployed elsewhere to improve future disaster preparations, and better understand similar eruptions and subsequent tsunami as preserved in antiquity and in the geologic record.”

The study, titled “The 2022 Hunga-Tonga Megatsunami: Near-Field Simulation of a Once-in-a-Century Event,” was published in the April issue of Science Advances. The authors include: Sam Purkis and Nathan Fitzpatrick from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School, Alexandra Dempsey from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation; Steven Ward from the University of California, Santa Cruz; James Garvin and Dan Slayback from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Shane J. Cronin from the University of Auckland and Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The study was supported by grants from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation - Global Reef Expedition, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Auckland, and the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Endeavour Fund Project.

This image was captured by the Sentinel-1A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite in VV polarization over the Tonga island archipelago on 14 January 2022 at 17:08 UTC, 13 hours after the initial eruption, and relayed to the University of Miami Rosenstiel School’s Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) facility in southwest Miami-Dade County. CSTARS performed an enhancement of the image to delineate clearly the circular wave patterns, likely internal waves, emanating from the volcano (large, bright spot on the left bottom) and diffracting around the islands and coral reefs of the Tonga archipelago as well as interacting with each other.

CREDIT

© 2022 European Space Agency – ESA, produced from ESA remote sensing data, image processed by ESA. Radiometrically enhanced by CSTARS.

About the University of Miami

The University of Miami is a private research university and academic health system with a distinct geographic capacity to connect institutions, individuals, and ideas across the hemisphere and around the world. The University’s vibrant and diverse academic community comprises 12 schools and colleges serving more than 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students in more than 180 majors and programs. Located within one of the most dynamic and multicultural cities in the world, the University is building new bridges across geographic, cultural, and intellectual borders, bringing a passion for scholarly excellence, a spirit of innovation, a respect for including and elevating diverse voices, and a commitment to tackling the challenges facing our world. Founded in the 1940’s, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has grown into one of the world’s premier marine and atmospheric research institutions. Offering dynamic interdisciplinary academics, the Rosenstiel School is dedicated to helping communities to better understand the planet, participating in the establishment of environmental policies, and aiding in the improvement of society and quality of life. www.earth.miami.edu.

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adf5493 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The 2022 Hunga-Tonga Megatsunami: Near-Field Simulation of a Once-in-a-Century Event

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Apr-2023