Bacteria can remain resistant to antibiotics years after livestock producers stop administering them, according to a new study.
Science Now reports that researchers from McGill University studied the anaerobic bacteria in pig manure. Manure samples were taken from ten pigs, all out of the same sow, from the suckling to finishing stages.
The pigs were from a university farm that had banned antibiotics 2 ½ years prior to the study. Despite the lengthy ban, when scientists grew bacteria cultures in the labs, between 70 per cent and 100 per cent of them were still resistant to chlortetracycline.
Science Now reports that researchers from McGill University studied the anaerobic bacteria in pig manure. Manure samples were taken from ten pigs, all out of the same sow, from the suckling to finishing stages.
The pigs were from a university farm that had banned antibiotics 2 ½ years prior to the study. Despite the lengthy ban, when scientists grew bacteria cultures in the labs, between 70 per cent and 100 per cent of them were still resistant to chlortetracycline.