U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in prairie soils that had little or no exposure to human or animal activity.
Antibiotics have effectively treated bacterial diseases for years, but some bacteria have developed resistance to the antibiotics that once killed them.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) researchers are investigating agriculture-related antibiotic resistance and developing solutions to address food safety, animal production and protection, and the environment. Part of their efforts involves looking at antibiotic resistance in soils.
Microbiologist Lisa Durso and her colleagues at the ARS Agroecosystem Management Research Unit in Lincoln, Nebraska, recently demonstrated that ungrazed prairie soils have measurable amounts of bacteria with antibiotic resistance.
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