Thanks to this, we can currently track outbreaks of infections and trends in antibiotic resistance.
"I've been on them so many times, I was getting concerned about developing antibiotic resistance, " he says.
Antibiotic resistance means if you were to become ill, doctors would have fewer drug options to treat you.
But the spread of antibiotic resistance is not only the fault of demanding patients and obliging or irresponsible physicians.
FORBES: Private Physicians Drive Up Antibiotic Resistance, Helped Along By Patients
Antibiotic resistance reduces doctors' options to treat you if you become ill.
High levels of antibiotic resistance in remote environments would imply the existence of vast natural reservoirs of the genes for such resistance.
ECONOMIST: Are the bugs in wild animals resistant to antibiotics?
Dr Alan Johnson, of the Public Health Laboratory Service's antibiotic resistance monitoring and reference laboratory, said the study confirmed data from previous research.
Based on historic data, there have been no discernible trends or patterns found between antibiotic resistance and the numbers reported in each group.
However, Dr Duckworth said the case underlined the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, and emphasised the problems associated with over-use of the drugs.
Another misunderstanding leads to the fear that antibiotic resistance could be transferred from plants to bacteria in the human gut, creating dangerous pathogens.
It's a fact that two strains emerged which tells us this is more frequent than we realise and it is driven by antibiotic resistance.
Environmentalists worry that such antibiotic resistance might somehow be passed on to bacteria when the plant decays or is digested, making the bacteria more intractable.
But these new drugs, which are being developed by French drug giant Aventis and tiny Cubist Pharmaceuticals , are not going to solve the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.
"Antibiotic resistance in some parts of the world is like a slow tsunami, we've known it's coming for years and we're going to get wet, " he said.
Alcohol gels or wipes and antibacterial soap work, too, but there's a chance that antibacterial soap contributes to antibiotic resistance, so it makes sense to avoid it.
Antibiotic resistance already kills around 100, 000 Americans, 80, 000 Chinese and 25, 000 Europeans a year, according to figures from the past four years, which are likely to be an underestimate.
The only explanation she can offer is that there is indeed a low natural level of antibiotic resistance in the bears' bugs, a point that the team wants to look into next.
ECONOMIST: Are the bugs in wild animals resistant to antibiotics?
Community-acquired antibiotic resistance becomes a problem when patients who use antibiotics frequently for mild illnesses require therapy for more serious conditions, such as infections that develop as a result of surgery or cancer-related complications.
FORBES: Private Physicians Drive Up Antibiotic Resistance, Helped Along By Patients
Turns out the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved of antibiotics back in the 1950s, and the first report linking antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use in livestock followed soon after in the 1960s.
The discovery that animals in pristine environments have few bacteria with resistance genes makes it likely that much of the antibiotic resistance found in these other species is a result of human influence, rather than natural gene-circulation.
ECONOMIST: Are the bugs in wild animals resistant to antibiotics?
The Chief Medical Officer, Prof Sally Davies, said the levels would be so low as not to represent a health risk, although she is deeply worried about the long-term threat of antibiotic resistance in the human and animal world.
The data from the report, which analyzes how 50 global risks will play out over the coming decade, puts antibiotic resistance within a web of connected threats that include a vulnerability to pandemics, failure of the international intellectual property regime and rising rates of chronic disease.
Physicians who see patients outside of hospital systems, such as those working in private offices, contribute disproportionately to the spread of antibiotic resistance because they are more likely to prescribe drugs unnecessarily, a first-of-its-kind nationwide study that looked at patterns of antibiotic use and drug-resistant infections has found.
FORBES: Private Physicians Drive Up Antibiotic Resistance, Helped Along By Patients
The American Health Institute, the association that represents large agriculture and pharmaceutical industries, supports the NARMS monitoring program as "it provides an important early warning system on the potential for the emergence of antibiotic resistance bacteria, " said Ron Phillips, vice president for legislative and public affairs, in an e-mail.
The American Health Institute, the association that represents large agriculture and pharmaceutical industries, says it supports the NARMS monitoring program as "it provides an important early warning system on the potential for the emergence of antibiotic resistance bacteria, " said Ron Phillips, vice president for legislative and public affairs, in an e-mail.
Yet there are no substantiated reports of antibiotic-resistance genes jumping from a plant to a bacterium.
Moreover, bacteria in their natural state already contain thousands of antibiotic-resistance genes.
New Dehli Metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) is thought to have emerged in India where poor sanitation and antibiotic use have helped resistance spread.
The strain, known as S. Kentucky, has developed resistance to the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, often used for treating severe Salmonella cases.
One contained an antibiotic to which blaTEM confers resistance.
ECONOMIST: Are the bugs in wild animals resistant to antibiotics?
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