The Problem
• Transportation facilities such airports, underground, ports, train and bus stations, are intense mobility hubs among people from all over the world,who can carry infectious agents.
• The problem is exacerbated as microbial diversity varies around the world. As a result, there is risk of exposure to unknown pathogens with increased infectivity.
• Moreover, transportation hubs are, by definition, crucial to the spread of infectious agents even at worldwide level, as people transit around the world.
• The recent SARS-Cov2 pandemic has created a climate of insecurity towards travelling, the use public means of transport and other. facilities involving use of indoor public spaces.
• At the same time, citizens are now more aware and better informed about biosafety issues, and therefore more demanding from services provided to them.
Proposed solution
Our main goal is to detect and monitor microbial communities located in public and non-public areas of the transportation hubs and to record hotspot areas and transmission patterns.
By constructing almost complete genomes from metagenomic samples, we are able to exhaustively identify all potential biological hazards as well as monitor their spread in transportation hubs.
Monitoring pathogens in the environment in almost real time allows targeted and effective infection control measures.
The detection and monitoring of pathogens in indoor air, water as well as indoor and outdoor surfaces, provides a comprehensive record of the transportation hubs’ epidemiological state.
Air and Surface Monitoring
Waiting areas and lounges
Dining and shopping areas
Elevators and escalators
Bathrooms
Cargo exchange areas
Water monitoring
Drinking water
Produced wastewater
Benefits for the Transportation Hub
Identifying and monitoring the transportation hub’s microbial footprint will create a safe environment both for the staff and people in transit.
The transportation hub administration will have imminent information of possible health threats and will be able to take all necessary measures promptly.
The interactive result reports generated by the DNA sequence platform can be used for controls and to inform interested authorities and third parties.