来自中国的超级细菌 百万亿美元级别的风险.docxVIP

来自中国的超级细菌 百万亿美元级别的风险 来自中国的超级细菌：百万亿美元级别的风险 Department of Defense researchers announced a shocking finding last month: they had identified an ominous, antibiotic-resistant strain of E. Coli in a Pennsylvania woman seeking medical treatment at a military clinic. This is the first time this bacteria has been positively identified in a human in America. The superbug is resistant to colistin, an antibiotic used only when alternatives have failed. The announcement has prompted a host of statements highlighting the global significance of this finding. In an article published last week, scientists warned this “heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.” As the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put it, “It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently.” While the current superbug is thankfully treatable with other kinds of antibiotics, according to the Washington Post, “researchers worry that its colistin-resistance gene, known as mcr-1, could spread to other bacteria that can already evade other antibiotics.” In that case, we could be out of viable defenses. Superbugs are already an enormous public health problem. According to Vox, “In the United States alone, antibiotic-resistant infections are now associated with 23,000 deaths and 2 million illnesses every year. By 2050, a report out of the UK suggested drug-resistant infections will kill more people than cancer.” The current superbug, which researchers had previously seen in Asia and Europe, is a reminder of the unintended consequences of the modern quest for productivity. Aggressive use of antibiotics in the meat production industry to maximize yield has acceleratedthe development of superbugs. 80% of antibiotics in the US are used on livestock. North Carolina farm animals receive more of these drugs than all Americans combined. Researchers believe that the colistin-resistant E. Coli originated in Chinese livestock farms, where the antibiotic is used to he