Antibiotics are resistant to ... dolphins

Dolphins in the wild are seriously affected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which is thought to only occur in humans.

In a new study published in the journal Aquatic Mammals, scientists at the University of Florida Atlantic (USA) said they studied wild dolphins in the area of ​​the Indian River, Florida during the 2003 period. -2015.

Dolphins contain high antibiotic resistance bacteria, which often occur in people who take a lot of antibiotics.

The scientists collected about 733 types of bacteria from 171 dolphins in the area to analyze the antibiotic resistance index for each different pathogen.

As a result, 88.2% of 733 types of bacteria examined were resistant to at least one antibiotic, including 91.6% of erythromycin resistance, 77.3% of ampicillin- resistant type and 61.7 % cephalothin resistance type . The infection rate of these antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been increasing in dolphin populations over 13 years of research.

In particular, the number of dolphins containing high antibiotic-resistant bacteria was recorded mainly in places where humans used a lot of antibiotics.

Scientists suspect that some antibiotics can follow human activities directly into rivers, or indirectly through the soil environment, and then affect aquatic animals.

In the past, people used to be infected with the main antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the medical environment, but this does not eliminate the risk of being affected by river, sea . like dolphins. Even people who like to eat raw seafood should be alert because there is a risk of being affected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria that parasitize marine animals.