Outbreaks of antibiotic resistant pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria.
New research conducted at North Carolina State University reveals that two of the most common strains of Campylobacter are exchanging genetic material. That means they are producing more infectious and antibiotic-resistant strains. And that is bad news for consumers, since those strains are common in the poultry industry. In 2014, Consumer Reports conducted research on … Read more
A new study conducted in Brazil has found that heavy metal exposure increases the level of antibiotic resistant bacteria in dairy cows. Researchers studied two dairy herds in Brazil four years after a dam holding mining waste ruptured. This poses a threat to human health, according to information published in Penn State News. Researchers Erika … Read more
Whenever there is a food poisoning outbreak linked to produce, we have told you that one source of the pathogen may be bird droppings. A new study conducted at Rice University and published in Elsevier journal Environmental Pollution states that bird droppings carry antibiotic resistant bacteria and may “harbor abundant” numbers of the pathogen along … Read more
A team of researchers at Princeton. have developed an antibiotic that can act as a poison arrow against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Part of the antibiotic actually punctures the bacterial wall and destroys folate within the cell. This antibiotic is also immune to antibiotic resistance. The combination. of the poisonous compound, SCH-79797, together with the antibiotic’s ability … Read more
Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario have found that a drug combination fights antibiotic resistant Salmonella infections. A combination of the antibiotic and a natural product called dephostatin combined are effective. Colistin is considered a last-resort antibiotic, because it has a toxic effect on the body. When paired with dephostatin, doctors can use much lower … Read more
A study conducted at the University of Bath has found that factory farming increases the risk of pandemic development. Overuse of antibiotics, low genetic diversity, and a large number of animals increases the risk of animal pathogens transferring to humans. Viruses and bacteria that jump from animals to humans are called zoonotic diseases. Some zoonotic … Read more
Bad news about antibiotic resistance and food poisoning: New surveillance data from European Union member states shows rising antibiotic resistance to a medically important antibiotic among foodborne pathogens. The report focuses on antibiotic resistance levels in Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The bacteria that were analyzed were taken from humans, pigs, … Read more
Did you know that dust in your house may be housing antibiotic resistant bacteria? A study conducted at Northwestern University has shown that indoor dust bacteria have transferable antibiotic resistance genes. That means the bacteria living in household dust can spread antibiotic resistant genes to other bacteria. Most of these bacteria are not harmful to … Read more
A study conducted at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, along with the Penn State College of Medicine and the FDA, found that meat from conventionally-raised poultry harbored almost twice as much multidrug-resistant Salmonella bacteria as meat from antibiotic-free or organic poultry. The study was presented at IDWeek 2019. Consuming Salmonella-contaminated meat is one of the … Read more
A new study, published in Israel and published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, found that increased use of antibiotics in certain neighborhoods is associated with an increased risk of acquiring an antibiotic-resistant infection. The scientists looked at fluoroquinolone-resistant E. coli bacteria found in urine cultures of Israelis in more than 1700 neighborhoods. The authors … Read more