By Ananya Sen
The spread of drug-resistant microbes has become a global health concern that threatens our ability to treat infections. The widespread use of antimicrobials in livestock, such as swine farms, exacerbates this problem. Therefore, we need surveillance systems to monitor these microbes to support the public health authorities. To this end, researchers have tracked the antimicrobial resistance of Escherichia coli isolated from swine.
Antimicrobials are essential for preventing and treating infections in humans and animals. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, 70% of all antibiotic sales in the US are used for livestock production. However, microbes change over time to combat these chemicals, eventually becoming resistant. As a result, infections become harder to treat. Concerningly, these resistant organisms can spread from farm animals to humans, creating a bigger health crisis.
The researchers focused on E. coli since these bacteria are ubiquitous in the intestinal tract of humans and pigs, and they are good indicators to test whether meat and meat products have been contaminated. E. coli can also acquire and transfer resistance genes to other bacteria in the intestinal tract, making them ideal for monitoring programs of livestock and humans.