Do antibiotic residues from agricultural use contribute to human drug resistance?
Antibiotic Resistance March 26, 2003 Besides producing the raw material that ends up as the roast beef or ham on the dinner table, livestock farms also are big producers of manure. Farmers get rid of manure in an environmentally responsible way by turning it into fertilizer for their fields or those of other farmers. But deep in those piles of dung lie not just beneficial, organic matter, but also the residues of antibiotics used to promote growth in livestock and to treat their diseases. How much of these antibiotics end up in the environment, and thus could potentially alter microbial ecosystems in humans, animals and the environment is the focus of research being conducted by Diana Aga, PhD, assistant professor of chemistry in the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences. “A lot of research is done to study how antibiotics used in human medicine result in the development of resistance in microorganisms,” explained Aga, “but how about microbial resistance due to exposure to
