Travellers’ phones pose a significant biosecurity threat.

Mobile phones carried by international travellers are transporting harmful microbes across borders, posing serious risks to public health, agriculture, and native wildlife in Australia, according to new research.

The study swabbed 20 phones at a global medical conference in Sydney in 2023, identifying 2,204 microbes, including 882 bacteria, 1,229 viruses, and 88 fungi.

Among the detected pathogens were antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, known for hospital infections, and Pantoea stewartii, which can harm crops and cause septicaemia in rare native parrots. 

Lead author Dr Lotti Tajouri called the findings a “red flag” for Australian biosecurity, suggesting that international travellers' phones be decontaminated upon entry to protect ecosystems and public health. 

“Mobile phones act as contaminated mobile petri dishes, yet they are crossing borders without scrutiny,” he said. 

Dr Tajouri highlighted the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria as a particular concern, given the global rise in antimicrobial resistance, which contributed to nearly 5 million deaths worldwide in 2019, a number expected to double by 2050.

The study also found Fusarium solani, a fungus linked to invasive borers that threaten Australian forests and crops. 

The borers, first detected three years ago, are spreading in Western Australia and can kill trees within two years.

Extrapolating from the 6.8 million international arrivals in 2023, Dr Tajouri estimated that around 749.2 million microbes could have entered Australia via mobile phones. 

He warned that while not all microbes are harmful, the sheer volume of travellers significantly increases the chance of pathogenic microbes establishing themselves in the country.

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