The Role of Leather Microbes in Human Health

Abstract

Leather tanned from raw hides and skins have been used to cover and protect the human body since early man. The skin of an animal carries thousands of microbes. Some are beneficial and protect the animal while others are pathogenic and cause diseases. Some microbes have no defined roles in animals. These microbes end up in the human body through contact with the animal skin. In recent years, the human body has been studied as an ecosystem where trillions of microorganisms live as a community called microbiome. Humans need beneficial microbes like Bacillus subtilis on the skin surface to stay healthy. Many microbes need the human body to survive. Not many studies have looked into the close link between animal leather and the human microbiome. The assumption is that conventional leather processes inhibit the pathogens on skins from carrying any risk of microbial hazard to the human body. This chapter identifies endemic microbes of "animal skin microbiome" that withstand extreme acidity and alkalinity of leather manufacture and their transmission to humans. Some cause allergic reactions, skin lesion, infections or death to tannery employees with weakened immune systems. This promotes the need to look at leather product microbiome impact on human health.

Scorpion-Venom-Derived Antimicrobial Peptide Css54 Exerts Potent Antimicrobial Activity by Disrupting Bacterial Membrane of Zoonotic Bacteria

“…Zoonotic diseases are caused by pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses that transmit between animals and humans [ 36 ]. The WHO report in 2015 warned of the number of diseases caused by food contaminated with pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella sp., Listeria Sp., Campylobacter sp., and the Enterobacteriaceae family [ 37 ].…”

Prevalence of Bacterial and Fungal Isolates Associated with Road Traffic Accident In-patients in General Hospitals in Niger State

“…Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest isolated organism as it confirms the ubiquitous nature of Staphylococcus aureus, which is found in the human skin as a normal flora [21,22]. Bacillus subtilis though not an organism commonly found in wound, but could be found in air, soil and water and hence can easily infect wound [23]. Candidaal bicans is found in the vagina, but its presence in wound may be traced to immunocompromised state such as patients with diabetes mellitus, on prolonged steroid or prolonged use of antibiotics [24,25,26].…”

Transmission of Zoonotic Diseases in the Daily Life of Ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum (79 CE, Italy): A Review of Animal–Human–Environment Interactions through Biological, Historical and Archaeological Sources

“…Inhalation of anthrax could occur if anthrax spores entered the lungs through the respiratory tract. This type of infection can be contracted when workers inhale airborne anthrax spores during processes such as leather tanning and wool processing [ 40 , 176 ].…”