Scientists have discovered antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the Arctic, suggesting that drug-resistance has spread into the farthest reaches of nature — an alarming prospect for future healthcare.
The researchers from Sweden studied antimicrobial drug resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from Arctic birds to 17 antimicrobial drugs, detecting resistance to 14 of them.
“We were extremely surprised,” said Björn Olsen, Professor of Infectious Diseases at Uppsala University and at the Laboratory for Zoonosis Research at the University of Kalmar.
“We took samples from birds living far out on the tundra and had no contact with people. This further confirms that resistance to antibiotics has become a global phenomenon and that virtually no region of the earth, with the possible exception of the Antarctic, is unaffected.”
The team took samples from 97 birds in north-eastern Siberia, northern Alaska, and northern Greenland and cultivated them directly in laboratories the researchers had installed onboard the icebreaking ship they used to reach the Arctic. Samples were further analysed at the microbiological laboratory at the Central Hospital in Växjö, Sweden.
The researchers suggest the reason for the resistance is that immigrating birds have passed through regions in Southeast Asia, for example, where there is a great deal of antibiotic pressure and carried with them the resistant bacteria to the tundra.
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