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The bacteria that cause a common food-borne illness show low drug
resistance in Australia, unlike similar strains from the United States and
Europe, a study has found. Scientists behind the finding say Australia's de
facto ban on certain antibiotics in poultry (家禽) and other livestock helps
explain why. In the study, researchers analyzed samples of Campylobacter jejuni
(空肠弯曲杆菌) bacteria from 585 patients in five Australian states. Scientists found
that only 2 percent of the samples were resistant to ciprofloxacin (环丙沙星), one
of the group of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolonones. By contrast, 18 percent
of Campylobacter (弧形杆菌) samples in U.S. patients are immune to
fluoroquinolonones, which have been used in the U.S. to prevent or treat
respiratory (呼吸的) disease in poultry for a decade. The study, led by Leanne
Unicomb, a graduate student at Australian National University in Canberra, was
published in the May issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. "The
findings add to the growing body of evidence suggestive of the problems of using
fluoroquinolonones in food-producing animals," Unicomb wrote in an email.
Campylobacter is the most common food-borne disease in the U.S. and many other
industrialized countries. People can contract the pathogen (病原体) by consuming
undercooked poultry or meat, raw milk, or contaminated (被污染的) water. Symptoms
include fever, vomiting, and diarrhea (腹泻). In rare cases, the disease can
trigger paralysis or death. "In most industrial countries Campylobacter is more
commonly reported than Salmonella (沙门氏菌), a better-known cause of food
poisoning," Unicomb said. "The number of cases of Campylobacter has been on the
rise in Australia since the early 90's." In the U.S., about 1.4 million people
contracted Campylobacter infections last year, according to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. While the infection
rate in the U.S. has dropped over the last decade, the bacteria have grown more
drug-resistant. According to the CDC, surveys between 1986 and 1990 found no
signs of resistance to the antibiotics in U.S. Campylobacter infections. But by
1997, strains resistant to the antibiotics accounted for 12 percent of human
cases. In 2001 the figure climbed to 18 percent. Public health experts say many
factors contribute to Campylobacter's drug resistance; the widespread use of
fluoroquinolonones by U.S. poultry farmers over the past decade is one of them.
Fluoroquinolones were first approved for use in humans by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) in 1986. In 1995 the FDA granted poultry farmers permission
to the use the drugs in livestock. Last year the FDA banned the antibiotic
from food-producing animals, citing the concerns raised by public health
experts over drug-resistant bacteria. Frederick Angulo, an epidemiologist with
the CDC, monitors the drug resistance of food-borne pathogens in the U.S. food
supply. "The people who are most likely to get infected with food-borne diseases
include the most vulnerable people in the population-infants and young children
and also the elderly," he said. He says that Campylobacter infections are
entirely preventable, as is the bacteria's antibiotic resistance. "In many ways
what's occurring with Campylobacter is an indicator for a broader issue, which
is...antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the food supply," he said.
47. Why do food-borne pathogens in Australia show low drug resistance?
48. In many industrialized countries, the most common food-borne disease is
________.
49. The food-borne disease may cause fever, vomiting, diarrhea and even
________.
50. The FDA banned the use of antibiotic from food-producing animals
because public healthexperts were concerned about __.
51. What does Angulo say about the bacteria's antibiotic resistance? |
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发表于 2017-8-26 12:13:20