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Soil and human health

Soil drivers of food-borne pathogen persistence

Nature Food volume 6, pages 747–748 (2025)Cite this article

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A study of Escherichia coli O157:H7 survival in soils across eastern China highlights the role of soil properties in pathogen persistence and the need for policies to reduce food-borne disease risks from soil reservoirs.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. F. Salles for the fruitful discussions. This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42325704, 42090064, 42477122 and 42277113), the Guangxi Science and Technology Program (GuikeAA22068088-2 and GuiKeAA24010003), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20230102), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KTYQ2025036 and 2025AIYJSZX-YB006) and the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (2022GXNSFAA035546).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Ningqi Wang, Gaofei Jiang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab of Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Key Lab of Organic-based Fertilizers of China, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Solid Organic Wastes, Educational Ministry Engineering Center of Resource-Saving Fertilizers, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Ningqi Wang, Gaofei Jiang & Zhong Wei

Authors
  1. Ningqi Wang
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  2. Gaofei Jiang
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  3. Zhong Wei
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Correspondence to Zhong Wei.

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Cite this article

Wang, N., Jiang, G. & Wei, Z. Soil drivers of food-borne pathogen persistence. Nat Food 6, 747–748 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01190-3

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