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Wildfires that keep us inside might drive the spread of infectious disease, per study of the U.S. West Coast wildfires of 2020

06.18.25 | PLOS

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Wildfires that keep us inside might drive the spread of infectious disease, per study of the U.S. West Coast wildfires of 2020
Air Quality level during the West Coast wildfire season in 2020.(a) Air Quality Index extracted for PM2.5 particle pollution for all counties in Oregon (OR), Washington (WA), and California (CA). Horizontal line at 150 indicates the Air Quality Index (AQI) threshold for health concerns; (b) The map highlights in dark red the most affected counties in Oregon (OR) and Washington (WA) that were included in our study. The orange counties represent unaffected areas used as a baseline. Both affected a Credit: Image Credit: Arregui-García et al., 2025, PLOS Climate, CC-BY 4.0

Wildfires that keep us inside might drive the spread of infectious disease, per study of the U.S. West Coast wildfires of 2020, highlighting indirect health impacts of extreme weather events.

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Article URL: https://plos.io/4mXg1FC

Article Title: Disruption of outdoor activities caused by wildfire smoke shapes circulation of respiratory pathogens

Author Countries: Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, United States

Funding: Research reported in this publication was supported by the Fritz-Family fellowship program to SB and GP. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. GP received her salary from the Fritz-Family fellowship program.

PLOS Climate

10.1371/journal.pclm.0000542

Disruption of outdoor activities caused by wildfire smoke shapes circulation of respiratory pathogens

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Keywords

Wildfires

Article Information

Journal
PLOS Climate
DOI
10.1371/journal.pclm.0000542
Article Title
Disruption of outdoor activities caused by wildfire smoke shapes circulation of respiratory pathogens
COI Statement
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Contact Information

Charlotte Bhaskar
PLOS
cbhaskar@plos.org

How to Cite This Article

APA:
PLOS. (2025, June 18). Wildfires that keep us inside might drive the spread of infectious disease, per study of the U.S. West Coast wildfires of 2020. Brightsurf News. https://www.brightsurf.com/news/LPEDOQ08/wildfires-that-keep-us-inside-might-drive-the-spread-of-infectious-disease-per-study-of-the-us-west-coast-wildfires-of-2020.html
MLA:
"Wildfires that keep us inside might drive the spread of infectious disease, per study of the U.S. West Coast wildfires of 2020." Brightsurf News, Jun. 18 2025, https://www.brightsurf.com/news/LPEDOQ08/wildfires-that-keep-us-inside-might-drive-the-spread-of-infectious-disease-per-study-of-the-us-west-coast-wildfires-of-2020.html.