LONDON,
|
A new gene
that makes bacteria highly resistant to a last-resort class of
antibiotics has been found in people and pigs in China - including in
samples of bacteria with epidemic potential, researchers said on
Wednesday. The discovery was
described as "alarming" by scientists, who called for urgent
restrictions on the use of polymyxins - a class of antibiotics that
includes the drug colistin and is widely used in livestock farming.
"All use of polymyxins must be minimized as soon as possible and all unnecessary use stopped," said Laura Piddock, a professor of microbiology at Britain's Birmingham University who was asked to comment on the finding.
Researchers led by Hua Liu from the South China Agricultural University who published their work in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal found the gene, called mcr-1, on plasmids - mobile DNA that can be easily copied and transferred between different bacteria.
This suggests "an alarming potential" for it to spread and diversify between bacterial populations, they said.
The team already has evidence of the gene being transferred between common bacteria such as E.coli, which causes urinary tract and many other types of infection, and Klesbsiella pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia and other infections.
This suggests "the progression from extensive drug resistance to pandrug resistance is inevitable," they said.
"(And) although currently confined to China, mcr-1 is likely to emulate other resistance genes ... and spread worldwide."...Read more@http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/18/us-health-bacteria-gene-idUSKCN0T739620151118#XAWWuJou48fXWXWR.97
"All use of polymyxins must be minimized as soon as possible and all unnecessary use stopped," said Laura Piddock, a professor of microbiology at Britain's Birmingham University who was asked to comment on the finding.
Researchers led by Hua Liu from the South China Agricultural University who published their work in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal found the gene, called mcr-1, on plasmids - mobile DNA that can be easily copied and transferred between different bacteria.
This suggests "an alarming potential" for it to spread and diversify between bacterial populations, they said.
The team already has evidence of the gene being transferred between common bacteria such as E.coli, which causes urinary tract and many other types of infection, and Klesbsiella pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia and other infections.
This suggests "the progression from extensive drug resistance to pandrug resistance is inevitable," they said.
"(And) although currently confined to China, mcr-1 is likely to emulate other resistance genes ... and spread worldwide."...Read more@http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/18/us-health-bacteria-gene-idUSKCN0T739620151118#XAWWuJou48fXWXWR.97
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