Superbugs rampant in China’s poultry products
February 20, 2017 Category Health, Weekly
Drug-resistant bacteria can be found easily in China’s poultry production chain – from hatcheries to supermarkets – according to recent research by scientists from China, the U.S. and Europe, underscoring the need for Beijing to control the use of antibiotics. Superbugs are bacteria that are resistant to antibiotic drugs. A British government report last year estimated that antibiotic resistance would kill 10 million people yearly around the globe by 2050, more than cancer. More than 87% of the chicken meat sold in supermarkets in Shandong province was contaminated by a superbug gene called mcr-1, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Microbiology. Bacteria carrying the mcr-1 gene was resistant to colistin, one of the “last-resort” antibiotics used only after the failure of other drugs. The researchers also detected the gene of another superbug strain, ndm-1, which originates in India and was rarely reported in poultry in China before. The findings suggested that “the level of environmental contamination is underestimated”, the South China Morning Post reports.
- KURT VANDEPUTTE (UMICORE) APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FLANDERS-CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (FCCC)
- Webinar: “Knowing Your Chinese Partner” – May 26, 2021, 10 am – 12 am
- EMA starts rolling review of CoronaVac, WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use
- The Global Times warns not to politicize the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)
- Hainan to become biggest duty-free market in the world