Environmental Epidemiology Reimagined: Soil Microbes as Indicators of Public Health Risks
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55006/biolsciences.2025.5303Keywords:
Soil microbiomes, Public health, Antimicrobial resistance, Environmental epidemiology, MetagenomicsAbstract
This study explores the potential of soil microbiomes as indicators of public health risks, emphasizing the complex interplay between soil microbial communities and human health outcomes. Soil microorganisms are critical components of ecosystems, influencing both beneficial functions, such as nutrient cycling and plant health, and harmful effects, including the presence of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes that can pose risks to human populations. The study investigates how anthropogenic factors—such as urbanization, agriculture, and climate change—affect soil microbial diversity, which in turn impacts public health. The integration of advanced biotechnological tools, such as metagenomics, machine learning, and biosensors, is explored as a means of enhancing the detection and monitoring of soil health risks. The study also highlights the current gaps in research linking soil microbial dynamics to human health outcomes and calls for interdisciplinary approaches to bridge these gaps. Findings from this research suggest that soil microbiomes have significant potential to serve as bioindicators of public health risks, offering a new avenue for improving health surveillance and informing policy recommendations. The study concludes with a call to action for further research, improved monitoring strategies, and the incorporation of soil health into public health frameworks to address the global health challenges posed by environmental changes.
Downloads
References
1. Cook MA, Wright GD. The past, present, and future of antibiotics. Sci Transl Med. 2022;14(657):eabo7793.
2. Gao FZ, He LY, Chen X, Chen JL, Yi X, He LX, Ying GG. Swine farm groundwater is a hidden hotspot for antibiotic-resistant pathogenic Acinetobacter. ISME Commun. 2023;3(1):34.
3. Jamshed A, Birkmann J, Rana IA, McMillan JM. The relevance of city size to the vulnerability of surrounding rural areas: An empirical study of flooding in Pakistan. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2020;48:101601.
4. Tong DQ, Gill TE, Sprigg WA, Van Pelt RS, Baklanov AA, Barker BM, Vimic AV. Health and safety effects of airborne soil dust in the Americas and beyond. Rev Geophys. 2023;61(2):e2021RG000763.
5. Wu J, Wang J, Li Z, Guo S, Li K, Xu P, Zou J. Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in agricultural soils: A systematic analysis. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol. 2023;53(7):847–64.
6. Innocent MO, Mustapha A, Abdulsalam M, Livinus MU, Samuel JO, Elelu SA, Muhammad AS. Soil microbes and soil contamination. In: Soil Microbiome in Green Technology Sustainability. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 3–35.
7. Aasfar A, Bargaz A, Yaakoubi K, Hilali A, Bennis I, Zeroual Y, Meftah Kadmiri I. Nitrogen-fixing Azotobacter species as potential soil biological enhancers for crop nutrition and yield stability. Front Microbiol. 2021;12:628379.
8. Timsina J. Can organic sources of nutrients increase crop yields to meet global food demand? Agronomy. 2018;8(10):214.
9. Bottalico L, Charitos IA, Potenza MA, Montagnani M, Santacroce L. The war against bacteria, from the past to present and beyond. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2022;20(5):681–706.
10. Samaddar S, Karp DS, Schmidt R, Devarajan N, McGarvey JA, Pires AF, Scow K. Role of soil in the regulation of human and plant pathogens: Soils’ contributions to people. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2021;376(1834):20200179.
11. Abdulsalam M, Musa IO, Livinus MU, Elelu SA, Ibrahim GO, Salami OL, Pal SK. Blue bioeconomy and biomedical innovation. In: Marine Bioprospecting for Sustainable Blue-Bioeconomy. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 143–57.
12. Sandil S, Kumar R. Soil contamination from construction projects. In: Ecological and Health Effects of Building Materials. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2022. p. 205–44.
13. Raza T, Qadir MF, Khan KS, Eash NS, Yousuf M, Chatterjee S, Oetting JN. Unrevealing the potential of microbes in the decomposition of organic matter and the release of carbon in the ecosystem. J Environ Manage. 2023;344:118529.
14. Onyedikachi UB, Mukah FE. Water contamination by industrial processes and sustainable management strategies. In: Water Crises and Sustainable Management in the Global South. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore; 2024. p. 181–210.
15. Abdulsalam M. Exploring the therapeutic promise of cationic antibacterial peptides. Biol Sci. 2024;4(3):692–700.
16. Tripathi S, Srivastava P, Devi RS, Bhadouria R. Influence of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides on soil health and soil microbiology. In: Agrochemicals Detection, Treatment and Remediation. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann; 2020. p. 25–54.
17. Musa IO, Samuel JO, Adams M, Abdulsalam M, Nathaniel V, Maude AM, Tiamiyu AGT. Soil erosion, mineral depletion and regeneration. In: Prospects for Soil Regeneration and Its Impact on Environmental Protection. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 159–72.
18. Gwadabe HA, Elelu SA, Innocent MO, Ibrahim GO, Adekunle IJ, Abdulsalam M. Exploring local-to-global win-win strategies for infectious disease control: Enhancing human health and sustainability. Biol Sci. 2025;5(1):850–64.
19. Abdulsalam M, Innocent MO, Livinus MU, Danjuma FA, Temitope IA, Adekunle IJ. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in treating emerging viral infections: Efficacy, safety, and mechanisms in monkeypox and influenza A (H5N1). Biol Sci. 2025;5(1):865–77.
20. Etesami H. Enhancing soil microbiome resilience: The mitigating role of silicon against environmental stresses. Front Agron. 2024;6:1465165.
21. Abdulsalam M, Fari HI, Tiamiyu BB, O LS. Optimizing α-amylase production from locally isolated Aspergillus sp. using selected agro waste as substrate. Biosci Biotechnol Res Commun. 2022;15(3):424–30.
22. Wang Q, Wang D, Agathokleous E, Cheng C, Shang B, Feng Z. Soil microbial community involved in nitrogen cycling in rice fields treated with antiozonant under ambient ozone. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2023;89(4):e00180-23.
23. Abdulsalam M, Innocent MO, Livinus MU, Abdulhakeem AI, Danjuma FA, Khadijah A, Adekunle IJ. Community health and vulnerability. In: The Interplay of Pesticides and Climate Change: Environmental Dynamics and Challenges. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2025. p. 443–67.
24. Livinus MU, Bala SZ, Abdulsalam M, Innocent MO, Hassan M, Yusuf K, Ali GM. Activities, pollution and climate change. Wetl Ecosyst Conserv Strateg Policy Manag Appl. 2025;12:107.
25. Bala A, Elelu SA, Ibrahim GO, Temitope IA, Livinus MU, Yasir AM, Abdulsalam M. Peptide-based approaches for biomolecule encapsulation, storage, and preservation: A comprehensive review. Biol Sci. 2025;5(2):916–31.
26. Tiamiyu BB, Lateef AA, Ajadi I, Adeyemi SB, Owolabi PO, Sagaya Q, Abdulsalam M, Mustapha OT. Bioclimatic modeling of current geographic distribution and future range shifts of selected edible mushrooms in Nigeria. Sahel J Life Sci FUDMA. 2024;2(1):51–61.
27. Musa IO, Samuel JO, Adams M, Abdulsalam M, Abdulazeez M, Muhammad MS, Akande SA. Natural contaminant of infant food: Case study. In: Emerging Contaminants in Food and Food Products. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2024. p. 151–61.
28. Livinus MU, Bala SZ, Abdulsalam M, Innocent MO, Hassan M, Kini P. Natural occurrences of soil dilapidation. In: Prospects for Soil Regeneration and Its Impact on Environmental Protection. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 205–23.
29. Zuri G, Karanasiou A, Lacorte S. Microplastics: Human exposure assessment through air, water, and food. Environ Int. 2023;179:108150.
30. Musa IO, Isibor PO, Samuel JO, Mustapha A, Mustapha A, Akande S, Adeniji H. Introduction to nanotoxicology. In: Environmental Nanotoxicology: Combatting the Minute Contaminants. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 1–22.
31. Abdulsalam M, Tiamiyu BB, Abdulrazaq I, Salam OL. Comparative antimicrobial properties of a consortium of Nauclea latifolia Sm. and Ocimum gratissimum L. extracts with their CuO nanoparticle multiplexes. Biol Sci. 2023;3(1):386–93.
32. Arnold BJ, Huang IT, Hanage WP. Horizontal gene transfer and adaptive evolution in bacteria. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2022;20(4):206–18.
33. Abdullah AA, Elelu SA, Innocent MO, Ibrahim GO, Tajudeen TA, Abdulrasheed U, Abdulsalam M. Advances in mushroom chitosan biorefinery and its applications in food engineering: A sustainable approach to food preservation and quality enhancement. Biol Sci. 2025;5(1):837–49.
34. Ahmed AA, Yusuf UA, Fadlallah ZH, Innocent MO, Abdulsalam M. Developing an omics-driven computational framework for next-generation microbiome therapeutics. Biol Sci. 2024;4(4):810–21.
35. Abdulsalam M, Salihu AT, Usman HY, Usman MY. Protein biosynthesis in microorganisms: Mechanisms, regulation, and biotechnological applications. World J Adv Res Rev. 2024;21(1):869–81.
36. Abdulsalam M, Fatima ZYU, Hasiya UA, Ummulkhuthum AT, Aisha WN, Muhammad FY. Deciphering the genetic code: Mechanisms, evolution, and implications for biotechnology. World J Adv Res Rev. 2024;21(1):858–68.
37. Saheed YK, Balogun BF, Odunayo BJ, Abdulsalam M. Microarray gene expression data classification via Wilcoxon sign rank sum and novel Grey Wolf optimized ensemble-learning models. IEEE/ACM Trans Comput Biol Bioinform. 2023;20(6):3575–87.
38. Livinus MU, Bala SZ, Abdulsalam M, Innocent MO, Hassan M, Elelu SA, Kini P. Role of microbes in soil food webs and vegetation development. In: Soil Microbiome in Green Technology Sustainability. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 107–32.
39. Wang H, Huang J, Jiang X. Perspectives on using a competitive exclusion approach to control Listeria monocytogenes in biological soil amendments of animal origin (BSAAO): A review. Appl Microbiol. 2023;3(3):786–804.
40. Saheed YK, Abdulganiyu OH, Abdulsalam M, Mustapha M, Olivier MM, Majikumna KU. A hybrid ant colony optimization for Parkinson’s disease classification based on synthetic minority oversampling and adaptive synthetic techniques. In: 2024 5th International Conference on Data Analytics for Business and Industry (ICDABI). IEEE; 2024. p. 16–23.
41. Muhammad FA, Elelu SA, Ibrahim GO, Temitope IA, Livinus MU, Avoswahi AH, Abdulsalam M. Artificial intelligence meets vascular health: Identifying molecules for precision repair of barrier dysfunctions. Biol Sci. 2025;5(2):932–46.
42. Durlik I, Miller T, Kostecka E, Tuński T. Artificial intelligence in maritime transportation: A comprehensive review of safety and risk management applications. Appl Sci. 2024;14(18):8420.
43. Saheed YK, Salau-Ibrahim TT, Abdulsalam M, Adeniji IA, Balogun BF. Modified bi-directional long short-term memory and hyperparameter tuning of supervised machine learning models for cardiovascular heart disease prediction in the mobile cloud environment. Biomed Signal Process Control. 2024;94:106319.
44. Musa IO, Ijah UJJ, Abioye OP, Abdulsalam M, Pal SK, Abamhekhelu IA, Akande SA. Phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil. In: Eco-Restoration of Polluted Environment. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2024. p. 35–52.
45. Abdulsalam M, Hamisu AA, Ahmad AM, Wakili FB, Annu FS, Garba MM. Microbiome dynamics and strategic management strategies: Exploring synergies between integrative medicine modalities and microbial balance. Biol Sci. 2024;4(3):725–35.
46. Livinus MU, Bala SZ, Abdulsalam M, Musa IO, Hassan M, Kini P. Marine genetic resources of blue economy. In: Marine Bioprospecting for Sustainable Blue-Bioeconomy. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 159–80.
47. Tulchinsky TH. John Snow, cholera, the Broad Street pump; waterborne diseases then and now. In: Case Studies in Public Health. 2018. p. 77.
48. SS VC, Hareendran A, Albaaji GF. Precision farming for sustainability: An agricultural intelligence model. Comput Electron Agric. 2024;226:109386.
49. Ristaino JB, Anderson PK, Bebber DP, Brauman KA, Cunniffe NJ, Fedoroff NV, et al. The persistent threat of emerging plant disease pandemics to global food security. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2021;118(23):e2022239118.
50. Flandroy L, Poutahidis T, Berg G, Clarke G, Dao MC, Decaestecker E, Rook G. The impact of human activities and lifestyles on the interlinked microbiota and health of humans and ecosystems. Sci Total Environ. 2018;627:1018–30.
51. Abdulsalam M, Innocent MO, Livinus MU, Elelu SA, Ibrahim GO, Lateefat SO, Muhammad AS. Future research of soil microbiomes and green technology innovation for a better tomorrow. In: Soil Microbiome in Green Technology Sustainability. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 569–85.
52. Mijač S, Banić I, Genc AM, Lipej M, Turkalj M. The effects of environmental exposure on epigenetic modifications in allergic diseases. Medicina. 2024;60(1):110.
53. Rajguru B, Shri M, Bhatt VD. Exploring microbial diversity in the rhizosphere: A comprehensive review of metagenomic approaches and their applications. 3 Biotech. 2024;14(10):224.
54. Singh S, Sharma P, Pal N, Sarma DK, Tiwari R, Kumar M. Holistic One Health surveillance framework: Synergizing environmental, animal, and human determinants for enhanced infectious disease management. ACS Infect Dis. 2024;10(3):808–26.
55. Lawal TO, Abdulsalam M, Aliyu M, Sundararajan S. Economic and environmental implications of sustainable agricultural practices in arid regions: A cross-disciplinary analysis of plant science, management, and economics. Int J Membr Sci. 2023;10(3):3100–14.
56. Abdulsalam M, Elelu SA, Innocent MO, Ibrahim GO, Livinus MU, Lateefat SO, Muhammad AS. Women empowerment in environmental conservation. In: Prospects for Soil Regeneration and Its Impact on Environmental Protection. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 351–70.
57. Muhammed A, Aminu BM, Musa IO, Abdulsalam M, Isma’il R, Gimba YM, Moses EO. Blue economy in Nigeria and the African continent. In: Marine Bioprospecting for Sustainable Blue-Bioeconomy. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 355–70.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Fiddausi Umar Musa, Tijani Abiola Tajudeen, Olaitan Lateefat Salam, Idowu Afeez Temitope, Miracle Uwa Livinus, Abdulhakeem Idris Abdulhakeem, Ishola Jonathan Adekunle, Musa Ojeba Innocent, Mustapha Abdulsalam
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
