6 August 2025 TOP LEFT: HISTOCK - ADOBE STOCK | TOP RIGHT: JULIE HARLOW | BOTTOM: DREAM MAKER - ADOBE STOCK MANURE STUDY AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE ABRIDGED FROM THE STORY BY STEPHANIE SOUCHERAY Livestock manure around the globe is packed with antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that could threaten human health, according to a new study in Science Advances. The study was published by Chinese and US researchers, who sampled 4017 manure specimens from pigs, chickens, and cattle in 26 countries over 14 years. Overall, the researchers found a reservoir of known (2291 subtypes) and latent ARGs (3166 subtypes). The detections conferred potential resistance to 30 antibiotic classes. “This research shows that what happens on farms doesn’t stay on farms,” said James Tiedje, PhD, one of the authors of the study, to Michigan State University. “Genes from manure can make their way into the water we drink, the food we eat and the bacteria that make us sick.” The authors said their map could be used as a helpful One Health tool as countries battle antimicrobial resistance. “There’s been a global push to reduce antibiotics in agriculture,” said Tiedje. “Denmark and other European countries led the way by banning growth-promotion antibiotics years ago and they’ve seen lower resistance levels as a result. “The data from this study can help countries decide what’s most important for them to act on and where those efforts can have the biggest impact.” Source: ProMED-AMR SMALL FARM CANADA it’s a sign! RABIES BY THE NUMBERS Ontario is going batty with confirmed rabies cases in 2025. So far this year there are 18 confirmed cases of rabies in bats. The other species affected in Ontario included six confirmed cases of rabies in red foxes. 2024 contrasted with 2025 (24 cases YTD) and 2023 (56 rabies cases – mostly bats) with 91 total cases including a confirmed human case. The first human case since 1967. Since the beginning of 2025 Quebec has had 34 positive cases of raccoon rabies confirmed. This is a heavy year in Quebec with almost five times their total case count in both 2023 (five) and 2024 (two), with racoons alone. Quebec has also had rabies confirmed in red foxes (two), Arctic foxes (two), dogs (two) and bats (one). On the other hand, 2025 has been rabies free for Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories and Yukon. These five provinces/territories were also rabies free in 2024. In 2023 three of the five, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Yukon were rabies free. What about the West and New Brunswick? These provinces have the distinction of having a moderate number of rabies cases now and historically, usually related to a single species. Source: Canadian Food Inspection Agency
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