Category Archives: Science in the News

Say Goodbye to Artificial Trans-Fat: The “Great Move”

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Jinny Jang | Leave a comment

Image Cedhttp://shqip.republika.mk/?p=194461

Have you ever considered why a tub of margarine lasts for 4-5 months while a stick of butter only lasts for 1-2 months? In simple terms, margarine contains trans-fat while butter doesn’t.

As of September 17^th, 2018, Health Canada has banned artificial trans-fat from all food supplies. A specific industry produced trans-fat called Partially Hydrogenated Oils (PHOs) is a health hazard and therefore, removed from all industry manufactured foods to imported goods to meals served in restaurants across Canada, taking a step forward in the “Great Move.”

The ban of artificial trans-fat in Canada will take 2 years to phase out all of the pre-existing foods containing PHOs. Through this movement, World Health Organization (WHO) is one step closer to globally eradicating artificial trans-fat. So why is WHO so determined to eliminate trans-fat?

Small amounts of natural trans-fat are found in meat and milk, but the most consumed trans-fat is the one manufactured by the food industry. Artificial trans-fat is produced from a process where liquid oil is solidified, referred to as Hydrogenation. It’s typically found in packaged snacks, baked goods, and fried foods. PHOs is the very reason why your margarine can last for 4-5 months. It provides stability that increases shelf life, while maintaining the spreadable texture and savoury taste that everyone enjoys. But at what cost?

According to numerous research papers, high intake of trans-fat has proven to increases “bad” cholesterol, and decreases “good” cholesterol. This accumulates bundles of fat in blood vessels that result in heart diseases. Excess trans-fat is associated with diabetes and heart risks.

Why is this move so crucial?

Image Credit: Krenosky, S., L’Abbé, M.R., Lee, N., Underhill, L., Vigneault, M., Godefroy, S., & Ratnayake, N. (2013). Risk Assessment of Exposure to Trans Fat in Canada.

The image above displays the average trans-fat intake (g/day) of Canadians in the years 1995, 2004, and 2008 vs. WHOs recommended limit. As the graph indicates, the consumption of trans-fat in Canada has exceeded the recommended amount. Though the intake of trans-fat has reduced over time, it is still a major health issue in Canada. The image below shows that 25% of deaths in 2016 were due to cardiovascular diseases (28% if you include diabetes). By banning PHOs in the food industry, Heath Canada is eliminating a main cause of cardiovascular diseases, along with other health concerns.

Image Credit: WHO Canada – Proportional Mortality in 2016. *NCDs stands for Non-Communicable Diseases, which includes cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.

Until artificial trans-fat is completely phased out of our diet, here are some helpful tips on avoiding artificial trans-fat.

Read the nutrition labels carefully – Health Canada has enforced labelling on all packaged foods. Watch out for PHOs in the ingredient section!
Image Credit: American Medical Association
Opt-out for healthier alternatives – Natural vegetable oils such as olive or avocado oils have more benefits than harm to your body. Or you could always switch back to butter!

Jinny Jang

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged Artificial Trans-Fat, Health, Nutrition

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words and an Award

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Julia Lee | Leave a comment

This picture was awarded 1^st place in a national science photography competition organized by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK.

Image Credit: David Nadlinger’s Blog Site

Perhaps you looked at this image and enjoyed its colourful composition, but when zoomed in, the main attraction of this photo meagrely floats between two electrodes placed only 2mm apart.

Image Credit: National Geographic

Called the ‘Single Atom in an Ion Trap’, on August 7th 2017, David Nadlinger from Oxford University was able to take this magnificent image of a single, positively charged strontium ion using only a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera. This image was taken behind from a window of an ultra high vacuum chamber which contained the ion trap. Shone with a laser, the ion reflects a light capturable with a 30 second exposure time.

“The idea of being able to see a single atom with the naked eye had struck me as a wonderfully direct and visceral bridge between the minuscule quantum world and our macroscopic reality. A back-of-the-envelope calculation showed the numbers to be on my side, and when I set off to the lab with camera and tripods one quiet Sunday afternoon, I was rewarded with this particular picture of a small, pale blue dot.” – David Nadlinger

So, was this the first time a single atom had ever been photographed? Well, no. This feat goes back as far as 1979, when in Heidelberg, Germany, Dr. Werner Neuhauser made the first observation of an isolated atom through a lens. Using the same principles, he had seen a flickering barium ion in an electromagnetic trap, reflecting the light of a laser. Unfortunately, there is no digital record of this incident as cameras weren’t exactly “atom-friendly” 30 years ago. With DSLR cameras now being a household object, it is easy to take for granted the efficiency and availability of these products. In 1979, Canon had released the world’s first autofocus camera, the AF35M. The AF35M was a compact camera with a shutter speed range of 1/8 to 1/500 of a second, but in comparison to the camera Nadlinger had used which had a range of 30 to 1/8000, one could see how photographing an atom would not have exactly been feasible.

Similarly, a group of scientists at the University of Otago in New Zealand had also captured an image of a single, neutral rubidium-85 atom. However, a high numerical aperture aspheric lens was used in this case, which is more of a microscope than a camera.

Image Credit: University of Otago, Atom Physics Otago

Then, if this first-place photograph doesn’t bring anything new to the scientific table, what does it have to offer? Well, this image captures the culmination of many milestones in the history of scientific discovery. It starts from the conception of the notion of an atom being the smallest unit of matter, to as recent as 2012 when Dr. David Wineland was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the devise of experimental methods that would allow manipulation of individual quantum systems.

Technological advancements allow us to continue expanding the forefront of science. Artificial embryos, AI, 3D printing- modern technology really is a remarkable thing! How small of a particle or how far into space could a camera another 30 years from now capture? Even those who may fully not understand the scientific aspect of Nadlinger’s set-up can still appreciate the scrupulous nature of the work that goes into isolating a single atom.

In full colour and full context, this photograph captures the attention of artists and scientists alike. Perhaps your next exciting encounter with natural phenomena will be made through the phone in your back pocket.

Julia Lee

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Posted in Public Engagement, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged atom, exploration, nobel prize, photography, quantum physics, technology

Alternative to Plastic Water Bottle: Edible Water Bottle

Posted on September 29, 2018 by AnnaKwon | 3 comments

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic wastes flow into the ocean. One of the major plastic wastes is water bottle. For several decades, scientists have tried to find the replacement of plastic water bottle since plastic pollution emerged as global issue. We all know that the most common and easy way to reuse plastics is recycling. But, only 20% of total amount of used plastic water bottles is recycled because they should be treated in different processes depending on different types. What about rest of them? Most of them are burning and buried under ground and this occurs another harm damage to environment such as generating toxic chemicals.

Then, what is the Eco-friendly solution we have?

Photo Credit: Ooho! twitter

There is a revolutionary invention to replace plastic water bottles was introduced by Skipping Rocks Lab in 2013. Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and his team who create this edible water containers, called Ooho, were inspired by the strong amorphous membrane surrounding egg.

The idea is adopted one of the cooking technique which is spherification. The key point of making Ooho is making calcium alginate. When alginate acid reacts with sodium bicarbonate, sodium alginate polymer is formed. After putting calcium lactate, it reacts with alginate polymer chains as 1:2 ratio. Then, cross-linked polymer chains are formed. This is how the membrane is formed when the high molecular chain, which was initially flexible, becomes less flexible.

Image Credit: American Chemical Society

Ooho consists of outer membrane and inner membrane which is in the form of gel. The outer membrane is formed by the cross-linked sodium alginate polymer chain. Alginates is refined from sea weeds and it is the reason why edible water bottle can be biodegradable. The jelly-like inner membrane keeps water hygienically without adhesive.

Likewise, this material is totally safe to human after swallowing it. What if you do not want to eat? It is totally fine! This water bottle will be naturally degraded in 4 to 6 weeks.

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, researchers predict that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish and the amount of ocean plastic wastes will be 10 times greater by 2020. Now, we cannot put off the plastic pollution any longer. We must change the plastics that we use in daily life.

Still, this edible water bottle has considerable problem such that it cannot be resealed once it is opened. But, if this Eco-friendly water container is used instead of plastic water bottle, it will be the big step for our environment to be freed from plastics.

Written by Anna Kwon

3 Comments

Posted in Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged edible bottle, environment, new material, ocean plastic pollution, spherification

The Development of Alzheimer’s Disease: Linked to the Air We Breathe?

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Loretta | 1 comment

Credit: iStockphoto/Michael Valdez
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071108135522.htm

Have you ever noticed the colour of the sky when the sun starts to set? That beautiful orange-pink colour is actually caused by the air particles of pollution, which researchers now found it to be closely correlated to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Research Study

Our air contains hundreds of millions of small particles, some harmless, others not so much. A new study obtained data from over 130,000 adults aged 50-79 years old (all registered to a family doctor on Jan 1st, 2005) and measured their exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) levels from their homes in London. NO₂ was used to measure this correlation because it is found from the emissions of burning fuels, like a coal burning stove, the cars we drive on a daily basis, power plant systems, and anything to do with fossil fuels being processed found worldwide. The results show that there was a positive correlation between high concentrations of air pollution and an increase in risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

The study couldn’t explain the effects of the variables that were hard to control but in this video narrated by Caleb Finch, professor at the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, explains the biological aspect of how air pollution affects the brain:

Video Created by: USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

In summary of the video, the fine particles from fossil fuels first enter our nose, which then easily reaches the brain as well as the lungs. These particles create an effect on the brain cells, causing inflammation and swelling of the cells which accelerates the progression of Alzheimer’s. Experiments were conducted on rats that carried the Alzheimer’s gene in its DNA, called APOE e4, exhibiting a larger increase in brain amyloid (proteins in the brain that build up along the walls, causing dementia) than those without the gene.

Credit: Martin Basinger https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-cd611d7893ad257d1ee98e8d6d97732a

With dementia being one of the biggest health problems in the world, if the link between air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease is fully proven, preventing it through improving our air quality might be the only solution to at least reduce the numbers. Knowing that pollution easily comes from the cars and buses used on a daily basis, should we start wearing face masks to reduce our own risk of Alzheimer’s disease?

Loretta Huang

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged Air Pollution, Alzheimer's Disease, Correlation, New Research

Foreign Accent Syndrome: Waking Up With A Different Tongue

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Anna Han | 3 comments

Imagine one day waking up with a Russian accent, having neither been to Russia nor heard a Russian accent before. This is the reported case of an American woman whose fall in a stairwell gave her Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) that stayed with her for years.

FAS is a speech disorder that causes a person to speak in their native language with speech changes, such as excess stress, consonant substitution, and vowel distortion. This causes the speaker’s accent to sound non-native. As speech is a key part of a person’s identity, and this syndrome can cause a person to feel like an outsider in their own hometown.

Source: Flickr Commons By: studio tdes https://flic.kr/p/raukoq

The first described case of FAS was in 1907 by French neurologist Pierre Marie, where a French man began to speak in an Alsatian accent after a stroke. The syndrome is rare, with only about 60 cases reported in literature. Due to this, FAS is not well studied or understood and can appear as a joke to others.

“Speech is one of the most complicated things we do, and there are a lot of brain centers involved in coordinating a lot of moving parts. If one or more of them are damaged, that can affect the timing, melody and tension of their speech.” – Dr. Karen Croot, cognitive neuropsychologist, University of Sydney

The sound of the “foreign accent” is actually a motor impairment arising from neurological damage, including brain trauma and multiple sclerosis. The areas of the brain affected by FAS are scattered, with no clear damaged area that can explain the syndrome consistently. It is also associated with psychological issues, in cases where the structural damage found through CT or MRI images was not proportional to the speech problems. In this typified FAS, the patient has identifiable psychological issues such as depression.

Source: Flickr Commons By: Michael Kontopoulos

MRI of brain damage of FAS patient (Source: https://www.utdallas.edu/research/FAS/diagnosis.html)

According to the University of Texas, Dallas, the effectiveness of speech-language treatment for FAS patients is under research. The complete reversal of FAS is rare. In this case presentation, a 55-year-old American male showed a day history of FAS. Following a seizure, there was a sudden reversal of the syndrome. This is the first reported case of a transient FAS reversed by seizure.

With no standardized diagnosis or treatment of Foreign Accent Syndrome available for patients, there is still much to be researched about the cause and range of effects from FAS.

Anna Han

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

Tagged accent, foreign accent syndrome, multiple sclerosis, neurological damage, speech, speech disorder, stroke

Plastic Planet: The Uncontrollable Plastic Waste Problem

Posted on September 24, 2018 by NathanChua | Leave a comment

The Plastic Pandemic:

Ever since its incarnation, plastic has become one of the most ubiquitous man-made inventions ever, with 8.3 billion metric tons produced to date. An average person uses 85 kg of plastic every year and it has become integrated into our daily lives, from containers that keep our food, to bags to hold our groceries. With the ever increasing demand for plastic, it begs the question, where does it all go? Common plastics are not biodegradable, and their durability and resistance makes it almost impossible for it to decompose naturally.

A study done by Geyer et al., found three different fates for all plastic: recycled, incinerated, or accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. The most widely talked about solution for solving the plastic epidemic is recycling. In principle, recycling can be extremely beneficial, but in reality, it merely delays final disposal. In fact, only around 9% of plastic is recycled. To put it another way, we only recycle one plastic bag for every 200 we use. With the sheer amount being produced each year, plastic production would have to cease in favor of recycling to make any remarkable impact. However, this is not feasible because there would not be enough material to meet market demand. Another method is thermal destruction. Around 12% of plastic is incinerated and is the only way to permanently eliminate it. However, the emissions produced from this process can cause negative environmental and health impacts. Lastly, the most widespread method of disposal (with 79%) is simply discarding plastics in landfills or in the environment. This, of course, has severe effects on our planet. Plastic debris has been found in all major oceans, and it is estimated that 4 to 12 million metric tons of plastic waste entered the marine environment in 2010 alone.

Global production, use, and fate of plastics (credit to Geyer et al.).

Innovated Alternatives:

We need to rethink the effectiveness of current methods of plastic waste disposal. Earlier in 2018, Chile passed a law to ban the widespread, commercial use of plastic bags. In addition, a Chilean company called Solubag has come up with a biodegradable plastic bag, made with a type of alcohol (derived from limestone) that dissolves in water. Even the dissolved plastic bag is harmless as demonstrated in the video below. This is definitely a step in the right direction

Solubag creator demonstrating their biodegradable plastic bag’s ability to dissolve in water (credit to Positivr)

In North America, businesses are also making changes to reduce plastic waste. In particular, Starbucks plans to eliminate all plastic straws from their shops by 2020. Their replacements are polypropylene lids, which are recyclable plastics; unlike straws that are too small and light to be recycled. If this transition is successful, this could potentially eliminate more than one billion plastic straws a year.

Starbucks’ new lids could replace all plastic straws from their shops by 2020 (credit to The Guardian)

Our Plastic-Wrapped Future:

We definitely need to find solutions to the plastic problem. Plastic waste is exponentially increasing and current disposal methods cannot contain it. Geyer et al. estimate that 12 billion metric tons of plastic waste will be in landfills or the natural environment by 2050. If left unresolved, plastic accumulation could rapidly engulf the planet.

Cumulative plastic waste generation and disposal in million metric tons (credit to Geyer et al.).

Written by: Nathan Chua

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Posted in Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged environment, innovation, plastic waste accumulation, Solubag

Will Artificial Intelligence One Day Rule the World?

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Jason Gan | Leave a comment

So what is artificial intelligence (AI) anyways? Just as humans scientifically exhibit what we call “natural learning”, artificial intelligence gives machines the same essence of knowledge enhancement called “machine learning”. AI allows machines to think about previous experiences and predict future unseen data without humans explicitly programming them to do so. So does that mean one day they will accumulate enough learning material to outsmart the creators? If so, scientists hypothetically refer to this as “super intelligence”.

Image result for what is ai

Photo Credit: ProSysCom

https://www.prosyscom.tech/innovation-future/what-is-ai-and-machine-learning-in-construction-our-definitive-answer-innovation/

Google AI: Alphago phenomenon

Go is an abstract strategy board game, created by humans more than 2,500 years ago. AlphaGo AI developed by Google, astonishingly defeated the world’s best Go players. AlphaGo not only defeated them, but impressively “trained on 160,000 games recorded from top Go players and then on 30 million more games it played against itself” said Brenden Lake. Clearly, the AI was able to train repeatedly at speeds unachievable by humans, learned from them and invented moves that no human has played before.

Photo Credit: Fiuba Consulting Club

http://fiubaconsulting.club/go-game-board/

So is AlphaGo considered a type of “super intelligence”?

Not quite. AlphaGo’s knowledge was encapsulated to the game Go, and only Go. It has no other signs of expanding into solving chess, checkers or anything else. Therefore we can state that although AlphaGo have officially outclassed humans at Go, it is not a “super intelligence”.

From within our phones, laptops to Google Homes and Amazon Alexa, AI is in our daily lives. We as humans tend to be skeptical of the unknown, and it is no different with AI. The lack of understanding of the general public is sole reason these topics to arise. Although AI does allows a machine to learn tasks without a human’s guidance, but at the end of the day it comes down to highly statistical algorithms. In the nutshell of AI, it’s primary function is to recognize relationships amongst enormous data to predict relevant, measurable answers. Hence over time, as new data comes in and joins the statistical model, its able to “learn” and perform even more accurate predictions for the future.

“Machine learning and artificial intelligence are tools. They can be used in a right or a wrong way, like everything else.” – Brenden Lake

Ultimately, AI’s capability to learn at speeds beyond any human doesn’t implicitly mean it will secretly learn other intelligence as well to outsmart us. There simply is no definition of “natural learning” for humans yet, therefore “machine learning” also cannot possibly surpass such threshold and go beyond our capabilities. Hence, AI will only learn and be exceptional in the field they are designed to thrive in. Even if AI one day is able to learn outside of it’s design specifications, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be successful either. As we are only understand the surface of AI’s true powers, its difficult to predict what other possibilities exist, but taking over the world is improbable.

– Jason Gan

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Posted in Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged artificial intelligence, Computer Science, machine learning, robots, technology

The Ketogenic Diet: The Key to Superior Athletic Performance?

Posted on September 24, 2018 by kevin fabian | 1 comment

Athletes are constantly looking for any kind of edge over their opponents. Could switching to the “keto diet” be the key to superior athletic performance?

The ketogenic diet or “keto” for short, is a diet that consists of low amounts of carbs and high amounts of fats. This drastic reduction in carbohydrates is meant to put your body into a metabolic state called “ketosis”. Ketosis sets in when your body does not have enough carbs to burn for energy, so it switches to burning fat instead.

Image by: Anna Shepulova via Shutterstock

Celebrities and professional athletes alike have turned to the keto diet in the hopes of losing fat while maintaining muscle mass. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kim Kardashian are just a few of the names that have turned to the new diet.

The keto diet is also becoming more popular for the “everyday man” and not just professional athletes. This is due to the fact that ketosis is a popular weight loss strategy. In addition to the fat burning benefits of the diet, it also makes you feel less hungry and helps you maintain muscle.

Researchers from the University of Saint Louis conducted a study on the anaerobic performance of 16 subjects that followed either a low-carb ketogenic diet or a high carb diet for 4 days. The study found that: “subjects following the low carb “keto” diet performed 4-15% worse than those adopting the high carb diet, depending on the task.”

The study author Edward Weiss, PhD, says that the keto diet could have a negative effect athletes involved in sports that require short burst anaerobic activities such as basketball and soccer.

Image: Bevko Vitamins

However, the opposite may be true for endurance athletes who rely more heavily on aerobic fitness. Jeff Volek, PhD, found that long-term use of the keto diet may not only lead to a boost in performance for endurance athletes but it can also help with overall health. This is only true however, if there has been a “long-term adaption period to the ketogenic diet.”

As it turns out, “recreational athletes tend to see more consistent benefits from adopting a ketogenic diet,” says Volek. “In part because, on average, they have a greater emphasis on weight loss, metabolic and health benefits.”

Written by: Kevin Fabian

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged Athletics, Health, Ketogenic Diet, Nutrition

Video

Lab Grown Meat: Another Alternative to Killing Animals

Imagine 30 years from now; a world where mankind will be eating meat, without killing any animals. As a lover of steak, myself, I chose to do my research on this blog based on an informative article on animal grown meat caught my eye. The topic is based on how one can consume meat without having to grow an organism through a gruesome and lengthy process. A solution to vegan protests and the general public surrounding cruelty is associated with eating meat. By reading about cultivating meat in the lab, I came to believe that the next step is to cultivate meat without having to worry about cutting down masses of land. In addition to this, we don’t have to be concerned about destroying Earth’s fragile ecosystem. Animals release methane associated with livestock; this contribute to the ever-worrying climate change issue. Lab grown meat can very realistically solve many of the world’s problems. Before I explain, check out this informative short video about growing meat:

Cellular agriculture

Many start-ups are using their medical technology to be applied to meat production to not have to kill animals to produce meat. The field of cellular agriculture could potentially be compared to traditional agriculture, just like how clean energy is compared to fossil fuels. The United Nations stated that more greenhouse emissions are released by raising animals for food than all transportation types as a whole. The reasoning behind this is because growing animals take an enormous amount of water, land, oil and fertilizers to make meat. This is not even considering the effects of water removal, land removal, oil usage and fertilizer runoffs that can create many algae blooms and kill off ecosystems. With all of this in mind, it’s clearly important to find an important alternative to traditional agriculture.

How is cellular meat grown?

Interestingly enough, it’s not as complicated as one may think. The first step is to put a small portion of skeletal muscle, meat we eat. Then, we take a few satellite cells that are able to differentiate into skeletal muscle and start the cultivation process. If the cultivation process is similar to the internal processes of animal’s body, then the cells can start to divide exponentially and rapidly grow into muscle cells. The pace of which the cells divides, is that after nine weeks, you will have the amount of cells equivalent to a hamburger patty. This may seem a lot of time but it is a relatively new area in science and one that shows promise for future development.

(John Wiley and Sons)

Does lab grown meat taste like real meat

According to scientists, yes! In addition to this, the worries of intestinal pathogens such as E Coli, which are found in many meats and recalls won’t be a problem in cellular meat production. Finally, a solution that will solve the debate between vegetarians and meat lovers: lab grown meat.

written by: Brian Agafitei

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Posted on September 24, 2018 by brian agafitei in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Public Engagement, Science in the News

Tagged alternative to traditional animal agriculture, Cellular agriculture, lab grown meat, moral and ethical agriculture

Are Pet Store Puppies Breeding Ground for Drug Resistance?

Posted on September 23, 2018 by JocelynCheng | Leave a comment

You cannot catch the common cold or flu from dogs (and vice versa), but pet owners might be in for other troubles. According to a new study, the Campylobacter jejuni outbreak, which causes diarrheal illnesses, has been linked to antibiotic misuse in the commercial dog industry. Among 149 dogs investigated, more than half of the healthy dogs received antibiotics for prevention of bacterial infections. Antibiotic prophylaxis, a technique that is propelling the alarming rise of antibiotic resistance in the pet industry, might be to blame for this multidrug-resistant outbreak.

Labrador Puppies by Christian Mueller

“Antibiotics should only be used to treat illness, not to compensate for poor practices—whether it’s trucking dogs long distances and having poor hygiene in the process along the way…” said Matthew Wellington, the antibiotics program director for U.S. PIRG. “These are lifesaving medicines that should only be used to treat sick animals or sick people.” Likewise, in the video below, Dr. Rajapakse, an infectious diseases specialist states that a whopping 75% of antibiotics in the United States are used in animals and this heavy use of antibiotics encourages antibiotic resistance.

Infectious Diseases A-Z: Antibiotics in Animals by Mayo Clinic

In August, 2017, a multi-state investigation prompted the Florida Department of Health to notify the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of six Campylobacter jejuni infections linked to a national pet store based in Ohio. By February 28, 2018, the CDC identified a total of 118 people from 18 states, including 29 pet store employees that met the definition for Campylobacteriosis. An overwhelming majority – 105 of 106 (99%) infected people – reported having contact with a dog, with 101 (95%) having had exposure to a pet store puppy. The investigation implicated puppies sold through pet stores as the outbreak source.

The authors of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reported, “This outbreak demonstrates that puppies can be a source of multidrug-resistant Campylobacter infections in humans, warranting a closer look at antimicrobial use in the commercial dog industry.”

Antibiotic administration records collected from 20 pet stores in 4 states during the outbreak investigation revealed that 142 of 149 puppies investigated (95%) were given antibiotics prior to or upon arrival to the pet store. Over half the treated puppies were given the drugs not because they were sick, but for prophylaxis only and a mere 1% received antibiotics solely for the purpose of treatment.

Campylobacter jejuni by De Wood (Agricultural Resource Service)

Although the vast majority of antibiotic use occurs in food animal production, the abuse of drugs in the commercial dog industry has been raising concerns of multi-drug resistant pathogens. The CDC have since issued campylobacteriosis prevention recommendations to retail pet stores, such as proper hand-washing techniques and correct use of personal protective equipment. With this outbreak under radar, public health authorities have also advised testing pet store puppies to veterinarians and encouraged pet stores to adhere to antibiotic stewardship programs. Pet owners, pet store employees, clinicians, and the broader scientific community should be aware of the scale of antibiotic use in the pet industry and the risk for Campylobacter transmission from puppies to humans.

Written by: Jocelyn Cheng

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged Antibiotic Resistance, Antibiotics, Campylobacter Infections, Campylobacter jejuni, CDC, Commercial Dog Industry, Dogs, Drugs, Outbreak, Pet Industry, Prophylaxis, Puppies

Category Archives: Science in the News

Say Goodbye to Artificial Trans-Fat: The “Great Move”

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words and an Award

Alternative to Plastic Water Bottle: Edible Water Bottle

The Development of Alzheimer’s Disease: Linked to the Air We Breathe?

Foreign Accent Syndrome: Waking Up With A Different Tongue

Plastic Planet: The Uncontrollable Plastic Waste Problem

Will Artificial Intelligence One Day Rule the World?

The Ketogenic Diet: The Key to Superior Athletic Performance?

Lab Grown Meat: Another Alternative to Killing Animals

Are Pet Store Puppies Breeding Ground for Drug Resistance?

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