Texas Cattle Yards Releasing Antibiotic-Resistant Particles

Could a herd of cattle pose a health problem for Americans? According to a new study that will be published in next month's issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, DNA antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in American cattle yards has become airborne and could potentially threaten humans and disrupt treatment of other life-threatening infections and diseases.After researchers gathered some particular matter from around 10 commercial cattle yards within a 200-mile radius of Lubbock, Texas in the past six months, they found that the air downwind from the yards contained antibiotics, bacteria, and a rather large number of microbial communities containing antibiotic-resistant genes.

“To our knowledge, this study is among the first to detect and quantify antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes…associated with airborne PM emitted from beef feedyards,” according to researchers in environmental toxicology at Texas Tech University and at a testing lab in Lubbock

Co-author Phil Smith told the Texas Tribune that the bacteria could be active for a long time and “could be traveling for long distances.”

Research seems to indicate that the antibodies absorbed by the cow are very poor therefore they are released into the environment through dried fecal matter. The study says the amount of PM 2.5 particles breathed into the lungs is staggering. The total amount of released by cattle yards in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska exceeds 46,000 pounds.

However, according to the Texas Tribune representatives from the cattle industry are criticizing the study, saying the airborne bacteria as overly hazardous to human health. As most reports indicate antibiotic-resistant bacterial DNA is known to be transferable to humans through water or meat.

(Source:Time)