An analysis on the detection of biological contaminants aboard aircraft.

Gene C Lin,Grace M Hwang,Anthony A Dicarlo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014520

Abstract

The spread of infectious disease via commercial airliner travel is a significant and realistic threat. To shed some light on the feasibility of detecting airborne pathogens, a sensor integration study has been conducted and computational investigations of contaminant transport in an aircraft cabin have been performed. Our study took into consideration sensor sensitivity as well as the time-to-answer, size, weight and the power of best available commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices. We conducted computational fluid dynamics simulations to investigate three types of scenarios: (1) nominal breathing (up to 20 breaths per minute) and coughing (20 times per hour); (2) nominal breathing and sneezing (4 times per hour); and (3) nominal breathing only. Each scenario was implemented with one or seven infectious passengers expelling air and sneezes or coughs at the stated frequencies. Scenario 2 was implemented with two additional cases in which one infectious passenger expelled 20 and 50 sneezes per hour, respectively. All computations were based on 90 minutes of sampling using specifications from a COTS aerosol collector and biosensor. Only biosensors that could provide an answer in under 20 minutes without any manual preparation steps were included. The principal finding was that the steady-state bacteria concentrations in aircraft would be high enough to be detected in the case where seven infectious passengers are exhaling under scenarios 1 and 2 and where one infectious passenger is actively exhaling in scenario 2. Breathing alone failed to generate sufficient bacterial particles for detection, and none of the scenarios generated sufficient viral particles for detection to be feasible. These results suggest that more sensitive sensors than the COTS devices currently available and/or sampling of individual passengers would be needed for the detection of bacteria and viruses in aircraft.

Highlights

The potential for international airline passengers to transport infectious diseases into the United States is a serious concern
In our computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, we specified some number of infected passengers whom we considered to be contaminant producers (Figure 4, second-to-last row, shown in orange)
To visualize the transverse extent of exhalant trajectories during a breathing-and-coughing scenario, we show streamlines originating at these positions that represent the flow of particles across the cabin (Figure 4, bottom)

Summary

Introduction

The potential for international airline passengers to transport infectious diseases into the United States is a serious concern. In 2003, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus was largely spread by air travelers and became a global epidemic; at least 18 countries on 5 continents were affected, resulting in over 8,000 cases and 774 fatalities [1]. Influenza viruses that can be spread by air travelers have the potential to cause far greater harm [3,4,5]. Deliberate infection of passengers by terrorists is a possible threat [6]. A potentially powerful tool to mitigate disease threats would be rapid and accurate detection of a variety of airborne infectious pathogens onboard commercial aircraft before passengers and crew deplane

Methods

Results

Conclusion