Texas Scientists Find Antibiotic Resistance Blowing in Wind

by Eva Hershaw
The Texas Tribune

Excerpts:

After years spent studying the dust that blows across the southern Great Plains, Phil Smith no longer looks at the dark haboobs that routinely rise over Lubbock without a healthy dose of apprehension.

In a study slated for publication next month, he and Texas Tech University colleague Greg Mayer may have made their biggest discovery yet: DNA from antibiotic-resistant bacteria in cattle feedlots is airborne.

For years, scientists have known that humans can contract antibiotic-resistant bacteria by consuming contaminated meat or water. The findings by Smith and Mayer indicate that humans could also be exposed to so-called “super bugs” or “super bacteria” traveling through the air.

“This is the first test to open our eyes to the fact that we could be breathing these things,” said Smith, an environmental toxicologist at Texas Tech.

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