Two ‘tenacious species of bacteria’ capable of causing deadly lung infections have been discovered aboard the International Space Station.
The superbugs were found in the water dispenser and have survived attempts to destroy them using an extra-strength iodine cleaning solution.
Both microbe species belong to a group of bugs called Burkholderia, which can cause severe infections and pose a particular threat to people with preexisting health conditions.
They are ‘very difficult to kill using common sterilization techniques’ and appear to be descended from bacteria which infected the water dispenser when it was being assembled on Earth.
However, the bugs are not believed to have evolved into mutant space germs and are no more powerful than similar varieties found on Earth.
In a statement, the authors of a report discussing the bacteria wrote: ‘Within each species, the [bacteria] recovered from the ISS were highly similar on a whole genome scale, suggesting each population may have stemmed from two distinct founding strains.
‘We find that the populations of Burkholderia present in the ISS PWS are likely are not more virulent than those that might be encountered on the planet, as they… remain susceptible to clinically used antibiotics.’
Last year, superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics were identified on the ISS. The bacteria were also found to be mutating and evolving to become more powerful.
Researchers said ‘hostile and extreme’ conditions on the ISS can ‘force bacteria to toughen up’ whilst lowering the immune defences of its crew.
‘Spaceflight can turn harmless bacteria into potential pathogens,’ said senior study author Professor Elisabeth Grohmann of Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin.
‘Just as stress hormones leave astronauts vulnerable to infection, the bacteria they carry become hardier – developing thick protective coatings and resistance to antibiotics – and more vigorous, multiplying and metabolizing faster.’
Life is hard for spacemen and women, whose bodies are battered by the combined effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation as well as the intense psychological stress of life in the heavens.
The combination of bacteria which evolve to become resistant to antibiotics and the lowered immune systems of astronauts could be a very dangerous combination.
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Immunosuppression, bacterial virulence and therefore infection risk increase with duration of spaceflight,’ Grohmann added.
‘We must continue to develop new approaches to combat bacterial infections if we are to attempt longer missions to Mars and beyond.’
The scientists tested bacteria found on a toilet door on the ISS and found several species of bacteria which could resist up to three antibiotics.
Some of the species had also evolved the ability to surround themselves in ‘biofilms’ which help then survive inside a host’s body and cause infection.
Luckily, researchers were not able to find really dangerous bugs like MRSA – but there is a chance similar nasties could evolve over time
‘No serious human pathogens were found on any surface. Thus, the infection risk for the ISS crew currently is low,’ said Grohmann.
Astronauts who travel into space could come home suffering from a very unwelcome bout of herpes, Nasa also revealed last year.
Half of the people who travel outside Earth’s atmosphere aboard the Space Shuttle or International Space Station suffer from the ‘reactivation’ of herpes viruses, according to new research.
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