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China is now the largest worldwide producer and consumer of antibiotics. In 2007, 46% of what was produced was used in the livestock industry. To explore the potential effect of this antibiotic usage, a multinational team of researchers assessed bacterial antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in samples from manure, as well as manure compost and soil receiving manure compost, at three large-scale commercial swine farms in different regions of China.
Tetracyclines, sulfonamides, and fluoroquinolones were all present in the farm samples. In addition, the samples yielded 149 unique microbial ARGs, encompassing the three major resistance mechanisms — efflux pump, antibiotic deactivation, and cellular protection — and potentially conferring resistan…