Small cuts and bruises are not much of a concern to present-day people. After all, they’re “just a scratch”; if they cause complications later on, the doctor can prescribe some drugs to fix them right up. Unfortunately, society might not be able to afford to keep such carefree attitudes to small injuries in the near future. With the emergence of “super bugs”, bacteria with high resistance to antibiotics, treatments for bacterial infections are becoming increasingly less effective. Over the years, the widespread use of antibiotics to cure minor injuries and infections have been selectively making bacteria stronger against common prescription drugs.
However, doctors are not the only cause for the rise of super bugs. In a recent study, Ludek Zurek et al. (2011) found that intestinal bacteria in the pigs of animal farms are very antibiotic resistant. This is almost certainly the result of farmers routinely adding antibiotics into swine feed to use as both a growth promoter and a defence against harmful bacteria and parasites. Already, several strands of the gut bacteria are immune to multiple types of antibiotics.
Although bacteria in pork is not dangerous as long as the meat is properly cooked, Zurek’s research suggests that infectious bacteria may be indirectly transferred to humans from pigs through insect carriers. In the same study, the researchers found that house flies and German cockroaches, which both feed on pig feces, have the same antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Through these commonplace insects, disease can potentially transfer from the pigs to humans.
The consequences of using antibiotics in animal farms is two-fold. The immediate effect is encouraging bacteria to evolve into more antibiotic resistant variants, and thereby making bacterial diseases more difficult to treat. Antibiotic use in farms also poses the danger of new infectious super bugs being transferred to humans by insect carriers such as house flies and German cockroaches. The use of antibiotic-containing swine feed should be reviewed to determine if the benefits outweigh these repercussions.
References:
Aqeel Ahmad, Anuradha Ghosh, Coby Schal and Ludek Zurek. Insects in confined swine operations carry a large antibiotic resistant and potentially virulent enterococcal community. BMC Microbiology, (in press)
BioMed Central (2011, January 27). Household bugs: A risk to human health?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 28, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2011/01/110126081706.htm
