mSphere, ASM’s new open access journal, published a paper recently called Antibiotic Resistance in Animal and Environmental Samples Associated with Small-Scale Poultry Farming in Northwestern Ecuador, written by Braykov et al. The abstract is as follows: The effects of animal agriculture on the spread of antibiotic resistance (AR) are cross-cutting and thus require a multidisciplinary perspective. …
If you’re looking for a great podcast this weekend as you tackle and long drive or heaps of cleaning, look no further! Radiolab did a great podcast, called Staph Retreat a few months back. If you haven’t heard it yet, give it a listen. It covers the discovery of penicillin, the arms race between antibiotic …
For those of you who have an ear tuned to the media’s noise about germ this, bacteria that, this blog post may resonate with you. I was just reading this article recently published in Nature about B. pseudomallei, a bacteria that causes meliodosis. The authors found that the bacteria is more globally distributed than previously …
New papers on microbes inside homes and musea, drinking water systems, during spa treatment, and in an urban estuary. Indoor air Relative and contextual contribution of different sources to the composition and abundance of indoor air bacteria in residences – Marzia Miletto and Steven E. Lindow – Microbiome (OA) We investigated the source-sink relationships of …
I was catching up on my NPR shows this evening and this one is definitely worth a listen. Here are the slides that they talk about in the podcast that summarize conversations with a focus group in England about antimicrobial resistance. Science Friday interviews Ed Young (who I highly recommend you follow on Twitter if you don’t already) …
Sometimes efforts to be environmentally friendly can give rise to microbial challenges. This was nicely described by Katie Dahlhausen in her recent post about water quality about green buildings. Other examples include observations that Legionella pneumophila can be contracted from shower heads and the use of low flow shower heads and lower water temperatures may increase its transmission. Likewise, wastewater (e.g., Environmental and …
A terrifying, yet not surprising article was published today in The Lancet Infectious Diseases about mcr-1. For those who aren’t familiar with it, mcr-1 is a gene associated with antibiotic resistance to colistin, a type of polymyxin antibiotic used to treat infections that are already resistant to several other types of antibiotics. News sources have …
New papers on microbes in water treatment plants and pipes. Microbes in pipes Revealing the microbial community structure of clogging materials in dewatering wells differing in physico-chemical parameters in an open-cast mining area – Juanjuan Wang – Water Research Iron rich deposits cause clogging the pumps and pipes of dewatering wells in open-cast mines, interfering …
Antibiotic resistance is a global problem, threatening both human and animal health. A recent study shows that antibiotic resistance has spread into wildlife populations in Chobe National Park, a spectacular park located along the Chobe River in Botswana. In this region, humans and wildlife live in close proximity and significant antimicrobial resistance occurs in human populations. In a study published in the …
Researchers at Inserm/Strasbourg University have developed an antimicrobial film for implants. One of the biggest problems with implants is that they can provide ideal breeding grounds for pathogens, causing inflammation in the surrounding tissue and subsequent rejection of the implant. Often, this is avoided by prescribing patients antibiotics or coating implants in them, which of course have …