The phenomenon has the potential to influence air quality and should alert people suffering from asthma, dust-related allergies, sinusitis or other respiratory illnesses, warned a report in the Jamaica Observer newspaper.

Every year, mainly in the summer months, clouds of dust rise from the African continent and move in a westerly direction, under the flow of the trade winds and propagate through the Atlantic Ocean, until they reach the Caribbean Sea, the southeast of United States, Mexico and Central America.

According to experts, they are generated by sand and dust storms in the Sahara Desert and the Sahel region that reach heights of three to seven kilometers, and are usually loaded with material that is harmful to human health.

The phenomenon triggers allergies and therefore puts asthmatics and other individuals with certain conditions and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at high risk during this time.

In addition, skin and eye irritation may be experienced, as well as a risk of waterborne diseases.

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