Antibiotic resistance revisited in recent media reports

Following the April 2014 World Health Organization (WHO) report warning of a “post-antibiotic era,” Current Biology published the findings of a new study on May 19, reports Influence Feed.

The study confirmed WHO findings and revealed “diverse and abundant antibiotic resistance genes in nonclinical environments…that…are not randomly distributed among different environments.”

The NRDC, Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, Consumers Union and food journalist Mark Bittman directed more than half a million followers to coverage in The Washington Post via Twitter.

In an effort to curb consumer sentiment that antibiotic use in animal agriculture is contributing to antibiotic resistance, the American Meat Institute (AMI) addressed the results of a March 2014 Harris Poll consumer survey on the same subject.

According to the AMI survey, 39% of respondents think antibiotics are present in meat and poultry and 18% think antibiotics in livestock production is the No. 1 contributing factor to antibiotic resistance in humans.

In response to this survey, AMI released a brochure on May 7 that seeks to “counter the misperceptions,” as reported by Agri-Pulse.

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