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TOPICS:AntibioticsFood ScienceMicrobiologyPopular Fresh Red Meat Beef Supermarket A Spanish study found 40% of supermarket meat samples contained multidrug-resistant E. coli strains, highlighting the need for regular assessments of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in meat products and emphasizing farm-to-fork interventions and proper food handling practices to reduce risks. “Superbugs” present in chicken, turkey, beef and pork, Spanish study finds. Multidrug-resistant E. coli were found in 40% of supermarket meat samples tested in a Spanish study. E. coli strains capable of causing severe infections in people were also highly prevalent, this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023, Copenhagen, April...

Potentially deadly drug-resistant “superbugs” could be lurking in nearly half of the meat products sitting in your local supermarket, a new study warns. Researchers in Spain say they discovered multidrug-resistant E. coli strains in 40 percent of chicken, turkey, beef, and pork products for sale in shops across the country. E. coli strains capable of causing severe infections in people were also “highly” prevalent, according to the results. At the same time, scientists say that antibiotic resistance is reaching “dangerously high” levels around the world. Globally, drug-resistant infections kill an estimated 700,000 people a year. That figure could rise to...

Sugar substitutes found in many supermarket foods have been shown to kill off antibiotic-resistant bacteria that cause pneumonia and sepsis. Three artificial sweeteners used in products such as diet drinks, yogurts and desserts dramatically halt the growth of multidrug-resistant priority pathogens, but they also reduce the bacteria's resistance to commonly used antibiotics, meaning fewer are needed. This discovery could lead the fight against superbugs. "Artificial sweeteners are present in all diet and sugar-free foods," said Dr. Ronan McCarthy. "We discovered that these same sweeteners that you have with your coffee or in your 'sugar-free' soda could kill very dangerous bacteria...

"What were they thinking?" It was the first thought to cross the mind of computational biologist Steven Salzberg after reading about a recent controversial Boston University study that combined strains of the virus that causes COVID-19, creating a form of omicron, the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant currently circulating in the U.S., that is significantly more deadly among mouse test subjects. The study, which caused waves in the media for its creation of a potential "superbug," also renewed an ongoing debate among scientists about the value of gain-of-function research—studies that artificially enhance a microorganism's genome to give it advantageous attributes, such as...

Flu scientists are hoping to vaccinate themselves against another outbreak of a crippling controversy. In a letter published this week by Nature and Science (see p. 612), 22 researchers make their case for launching potentially risky experiments with the H7N9 avian influenza virus, which emerged earlier this year in China and which some scientists fear could spark a deadly human pandemic. The scientists, who mostly work in U.S.-funded labs, also detail the safety and security precautions that they would take to prevent the possibly dangerous viruses they create from escaping from the lab—or falling into the hands of terrorists. In...

I wrote my first commentary on Covid-19 back in January. The numbers were small back then, but a worldwide pandemic already seemed possible. I wrote, “Confirmed cases of the virus have popped up in 13 countries so far. That includes, as of this writing, five confirmed cases in the United States. Five Americans out 327 million may not seem like much. But the point is, it’s here!” And it would soon be here in a big way! To fight it, Americans and the rest of the world mobilized resources in one of the biggest scientific efforts in history. But the...

It's a new kind of living antibiotic made out of viruses that have been genetically modified using the gene-editing tool CRISPR. "What CRISPR is able to do I...selectively modify genes in the viruses to target the bacteria," The approach...involves viruses known as bacteriophages (called phages for short). Phages are the natural enemies of bacteria. They can infect and destroy bacteria by reproducing in large numbers inside them until the microbes literally explode. Locus scientists have created a cocktail of three phages that have been modified using CRISPR, which was discovered by studying the immune systems of bacteria. "What we've learned...

Yes, say some international experts citing the rise of the super bug. But experts in UAE disagree and argue for better prescription protocols and patient responsibilityThe case of the six-year-old girl who developed antibiotic resistance is not an isolated one in the world of antibiotics. As these super drugs are routinely prescribed, controversies on their abuse and overuse are beginning to throw a big question-mark on whether antibiotics have outgrown their effectiveness. The question doing the rounds in many medical corridors is: Is the golden age of antibiotics over? “No, this is not true,” said Dr Sandeep Pargi, consultant pulmonologist...

Each year, more than 2 million people in the United States get antibiotic-resistant infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 23,000 of them die. Unless breakthroughs are achieved, that toll will keep rising. If a new version of an antibiotic of last resort lives up to its promise, that date with doom may be averted. A study on this bolstered form of vancomycin by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla was released Monday. Researchers led by Dale Boger, co-chair of TSRI's Department of Chemistry, introduced three modifications to vancomycin, all lethal to...

One of the fundamental ways scientists measure the well-being of a nation is tracking the rate at which its citizens die and how long they can be expected to live. So the news out of the federal government Thursday is disturbing: The overall U.S. death rate has increased for the first time in a decade, according to an analysis of the latest data. And that led to a drop in overall life expectancy for the first time since 1993 Most notably, the overall death rate for Americans increased because mortality from heart disease and stroke increased after declining for years....

The food supply has already shown itself to be alarmingly adept at vectoring superbugs into the human body, but a new report suggests maybe China really wants to see if it can push this to the next level. While the rest of the world finally understands antibiotics in meat are causing an epidemic of multidrug-resistant bacteria, China’s aquaculture industry apparently remains a place that, to quote Bloomberg’s story, “exposes the fish to almost the same doses of medicine the livestock get,” plus whatever drug cocktail gets tossed into the water to fight aquatic disease. This industry currently accounts for about...

A quarter of supermarket chicken contains antibiotic-resistant E.coli, according to Cambridge University research. The bug can cause stomach pain and kidney failure, and in severe cases can lead to death. The study found that superbug strains of E.coli were present in 22 of 92 chicken pieces. The meat was purchased from seven major British supermarkets and included different cuts from whole chickens to packs of drumsticks, legs, thighs and diced breast. The bug was found in samples from all of the supermarkets. …

The number of cases of a terrifying superbug in NHS hospitals has surged after the Government ignored warnings—and relaxed the rules on fighting infections. Hundreds more patients fell ill with deadly Clostridium difficile—known as C.diff—between April 2014 and March 2015 than in the previous year. The increase, from 13,361 to 14,165, came immediately after the system for fining hospitals with too many cases was dramatically weakened. …

Ms. Smith’s tragic demise was more dramatic than many cases of hospital-acquired infection (HAI). Necrotizing fasciitis is a frightening, but rare, complication. Still, about 8,000 Canadians a year die from bugs they contract in facilities meant to make them better, while many more see their hospital stay prolonged by such illness. Yet after years of well-intentioned work and millions of dollars spent on combatting the scourge, the details and extent of the problem remain murky. No national statistics, for instance, document the number of surgical-wound infections like Ms. Smith’s, one of the most common types of hospital-acquired pathogens. A federal...

The first new antibiotic to be discovered in nearly 30 years has been hailed as a ‘paradigm shift’ in the fight against the growing resistance to drugs. Teixobactin has been found to treat many common bacterial infections such as tuberculosis, septicaemia and C. diff, and could be available within five years. But more importantly it could pave the way for a new generation of antibiotics because of the way it was discovered. Scientists have always believed that the soil was teeming with new and potent antibiotics because bacteria have developed novel ways to fight off other microbes. But 99 per...

Lauren F Friedman and Reuters January 7, 2015Scientists have discovered a new antibiotic, teixobactin, that can kill serious infections in mice without encountering any detectable resistance, offering a potential new way to get ahead of dangerous evolving superbugs. The new antibiotic was discovered in a sample of soil. The research is "ingenious," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, told The New York Times. Researchers said the antibiotic, which has yet to be tested in humans, could one day be used to treat drug-resistant infections caused by the superbug MSRA, as well as tuberculosis, which normally requires...

... The good news, according to Goldberg, is that this isn’t a hard threat to combat, but he said there are unnecessary hurdles blocking an effective response and putting lives in danger. “We need to take the chains off companies that would otherwise develop antibiotics but aren’t because it’s too expensive or too complicated to do so,” said Goldberg, who then elaborated on the federally imposed hurdles facing drug makers. ... So what needs to happen to relax federal restraints on drug makers? ...

Washington (AFP) - Cow manure, commonly used to fertilize vegetable crops, contains a high number of genes that can fuel resistance to antibiotics, a US study out Tuesday found. These genes come from the cows' gut bacteria, and while none have yet been found in superbugs that are infecting humans, researchers said the potential is real. The research was done by scientists at Yale University, who sampled manure from a handful of dairy cows at a farm in Connecticut. In those samples, they found 80 unique antibiotic resistance genes. About three quarters were unfamiliar. Genetic sequencing showed they were only...

About half of the raw chicken breasts in a nationwide sampling carried antibiotic-resistant “superbug” bacteria, a U.S. consumer group said on Thursday, calling for stricter limits on use of the medicines on livestock. It could be more difficult to treat people if they became ill after eating chicken with the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, said Consumer Reports, which describes itself as the world’s largest independent product-testing organization. […] Consumers should cook poultry to 165 degrees F (73.8°C) to kill bacteria and take steps, such as using a separate cutting board for raw meat, to avoid cross-contamination of other foods, Consumer Reports said....

A report released Thursday indicates that just about all chicken sold in U.S. stores contains harmful bacteria, and nearly half are tainted with a so-called superbug that's resistant to antibiotics. The Consumer Reports study, its most comprehensive to date on poultry, tested raw chicken breasts purchased at retail outlets nationwide for six bacteria, then checked for antibiotic resistance. The results showed nearly half of the samples were contaminated with at least one bacterium resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics, what's known as a superbug. Slightly more than 10 percent were tainted with two superbugs. That finding is cause...