Antibiotic Resistance Reaching Our Shore
June 24th, 2010 | 
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A post by Blanche Scharf http://www.yourhealthupdates.com I have been studying natural healing modalities for the last 25 years. In that time I have had the privilege of working with some of the greatest minds in Natural Healing including Naturopaths, Scientists, and Energy Healers. I have seen people miraculously heal from all kinds of dis-ease thru non-invasive methods. Personally, I have experienced all kinds of diets from Macrobiotics to Raw Foods. Now is a very important time to start sharing this health information with as many people as possible, so people can make well informed decisions about their health and not fall victim to a sickcare system based on profit, rather than one of supporting wholeness, compassion and love To see more posts by Blanche Scharf, click here |
Antibiotic resistance reaching our shore isn’t science fiction.
Researchers have found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in seven species of sharks and redfish captured in waters off Belize, Florida, Louisiana and Massachusetts. Most of these wild, free-swimming fish harbored several drug-resistant bacterial strains.
The study, published in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in every fish species sampled. The researchers also found multidrug-resistant bacteria in fish at nearly all of the study sites, said Mark Mitchell, a professor of veterinary clinical medicine at the University of Illinois and a senior author of the paper.
“Ultimately the idea of this study was to see if there were organisms out there that had exposures or resistance patterns to antibiotics that we might not expect,” Mitchell said. “We found that there was resistance to antibiotics that these fish shouldn’t be exposed to.”
Among the animals sampled, nurse sharks in Belize and in the Florida Keys had the highest occurrence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These sharks feed on crustaceans, small fish and other animals living in shallow waters close to shore.
Fishy Ingredients
Now the supply chain of our food supply is eating into our health. Up to now have been eating to survive. This is a nasty turn of events. We pollute the food supply that we feed off. Keep medicating while we fill pharmaceutical wallets, we not only empty ours, we put our health in jeopardy.
Bacteria from sharks off Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and in offshore Louisiana were resistant to the fewest number of antibiotics, while sharks in the Florida Keys and Belize harbored bacteria that were resistant to amikacin, ceftazidime, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, penicillin, piperacillin, sulfamethoxazole and ticarcillin.
Redfish in the Louisiana offshore site hosted more varieties of drug-resistance than sharks in the same waters. This may reflect differences in their age (the redfish were more mature than the sharks), feeding or migratory habits, Mitchell said.
While the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in sharks and other fish does not necessarily harm them, Mitchell said, the findings point to a growing problem for human health.
“There are estimates of over 100,000 deaths from infections in hospitals per year, many of them from antibiotic-resistant organisms,” Mitchell said. “And we’re creating even more of these organisms out in the environment. … Unfortunately, as these things collect, there’s probably a threshold at some point where there’s going to be a spillover and it will start to affect us as a species.”
People do eat sharks and redfish, Mitchell said, and now these fish represent a potential new route of exposure to drug-resistant bacteria. Sharks and redfish also are predators, and so may function as sentinels for human health.
Awareness Rises
As awareness rises, we may be able to adapt, survive, and renew. Working it out is not going to be speedy or easy. Farm raised fish will not be the answer. They are raised on antibiotics, and are not fed their natural diet. Regulatory reform is not ready to deal with our food supply chain, or they already would have.
Lobbing groups are mainly interested in big profits. Deciding how to reinvigorate our food supply is the biggest challenge. However, it isn’t restricted to the activities of the dominated corporations. A change is upon us, and it is going to come from the shoppers. Demand more and you will get more. The customer has to look out for themselves. The only way to crack down on this irresponsible behavior is for a shift in consumer lifestyle practices, from demanding nontoxic products, to taking personal responsibility for our health.
America is the melting pot of creating and innovating. The new health movement is fueled by a passionate group of people who have a consistent message you are what you eat. For a sustainable planet, growing eco-awareness has big implications.
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