| Title |
High Numbers of Vibrio vulnificus in Tar Balls Collected from Oiled Areas of the North-Central Gulf of Mexico Following the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
EcoHealth, November 2011
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10393-011-0720-z |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Zhen Tao, Stephen Bullard, Covadonga Arias |
| Abstract |
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill was the largest oil spill in USA history releasing approximately 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Soon after the spill started, tar balls and other forms of weathered oil appeared in large numbers on beaches in Mississippi and Alabama. In this study, we analyzed tar balls for total aerobic bacterial (TAB) counts and also for the presence of Vibrio vulnificus, a human pathogen known to be abundant in the Gulf Coast environment and capable of causing severe wound infections by contact with contaminated surfaces. Our results showed that TAB counts were significantly higher in tar balls than in sand and seawater collected at the same location. In addition, V. vulnificus numbers were 10× higher in tar balls than in sand and up to 100× higher than in seawater. Densities of V. vulnificus were higher than 10(5) colony forming units/g of tar ball in all samples analyzed. Our data suggest that tar balls can act as reservoirs for bacteria including human pathogens. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 22 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 9 | 41% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 9% |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | 5% |
| Papua New Guinea | 1 | 5% |
| Iran, Islamic Republic of | 1 | 5% |
| Unknown | 8 | 36% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 21 | 95% |
| Scientists | 1 | 5% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 69 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 1 | 1% |
| Canada | 1 | 1% |
| Unknown | 67 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 11 | 16% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 9 | 13% |
| Other | 8 | 12% |
| Student > Bachelor | 8 | 12% |
| Student > Master | 6 | 9% |
| Other | 16 | 23% |
| Unknown | 11 | 16% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 16 | 23% |
| Environmental Science | 13 | 19% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 9 | 13% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 6% |
| Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine | 3 | 4% |
| Other | 12 | 17% |
| Unknown | 12 | 17% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 38. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 14 July 2019.
All research outputs
#1,041,756
of 24,998,746 outputs
Outputs from EcoHealth
#63
of 746 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#6,127
of 250,810 outputs
Outputs of similar age from EcoHealth
#2
of 8 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,998,746 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 95th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 746 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.4. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 250,810 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 8 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 6 of them.