Antibiotic resistant bacteria found in Australian wildlife raise public health concerns

Researchers have discovered antibiotic resistance genes are spreading to bacteria of Australian wildlife, which is worrying given the animals have never been treated with antibiotics.

Dr. Michelle Power said the resistance genes from bacteria in humans and domestic animals were being spread through the environment to naturally occurring bacteria of wild animals.

One way it’s happening is through naturally occurring mobile genetic elements called integrons, discovered by Australian researchers in the late 1990s.”We found the closer the contact between the wildlife with humans, the more animals within a population were carrying the antibiotic resistant bacteria,” Power said.

Related on the SLP

Clarifying ionophores: NRDC muddies science by suggesting all animal antibiotics lead to resistance crisis Swan song for antibiotics? Can phage therapy and gene editing fill the gap? Fighting antibiotic ‘superbugs’—DNA sequencing helps in the battle

CRISPR fine-tuning unlocks vitamin C-rich potatoes without yield loss

Trump EPA rolls back power-plant climate rules—and moves to block future carbon limits

How the reckless AI race among Anthropic, OpenAI and China spawned today’s safety crisis

Showing Slide 1 of 4

She said efforts must be made to reduce the overuse of antibiotics in humans and domestic animals, as it could be more difficult to treat sick wild animals with antibiotics if the resistance continues to spread.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Antibiotic resistance genes in wildlife