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Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2007;298(18):2125-2126.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Chicago—The emergence of antibiotic resistance on farms where livestock are routinely treated with antimicrobials has been well documented, but whether it poses a human health threat has been controversial. Now, a growing body of evidence suggests these "superbugs" of animal origin are being transmitted to humans.

A trio of posters presented at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in September highlighted evidence that resistant bacteria themselves or bits of DNA containing genes encoding drug resistance can and do cross from animals to humans. Additionally, 2 recent epidemiological studies in distinct human populations suggest that bacteria are developing resistance to antibiotics on poultry farms and that these resistant bacteria are colonizing humans.

To study the potential transmission of antibiotic resistance from animals to humans via food, Margarita Trobos, MSc, a doctoral student at the National Center for Antimicrobials and Infection Control at the Statens Serum . . . [Full Text of this Article]