Antibiotic resistance poses a threat to global health and food security. And McDonald's — one of the globe's largest purchasers of beef — gets it: The more that antibiotics are given to livestock, the more quickly bacteria could adapt and become resistant to it. Ultimately, experts say this could render the drugs ineffective for people. ARAC Director Dr. Lance B. Price weighs in.
December 11, 2018 -- For more than a year, ARAC staff has been advising McDonald's on a new policy it was recreating to limit the use of medically important antibiotics in its beef supply chain. As the largest fast food company in the world, McDonald's has the ability to change markets and tackle the pressing public health issue of antibiotic resistance.
ARAC Director Dr. Lance Price was a co-author on a new study, Drivers and Dynamics of Methicillin-Resistant Livestock-Associated Staphylococcus aureus CC398 in Pigs and Humans in Denmark.
Megan is Research Assistant at ARAC. After completion of her BA in Chemistry from the University of Virginia, Megan completed her Masters in Medical Laboratory Science in a year at the College of Health Professions at Thomas Jefferson University, where she also completed microbiology clinical rotations at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Hanna Rabanes is an undergraduate research assistant at ARAC, where she executes laboratory procedures in the study of antimicrobial resistance prevalence among bacterial isolates from retail meat. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Public Health at The George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. She has had previous clinical experience as a patient care volunteer and research assistant volunteer at various hospitals. Her experience at ARAC has piqued her interest in the intersection of research and policy.
ARAC Director Dr. Lance Price and his colleagues discuss a new tool they are developing to help doctors prescribe the right antibiotics.
Wired highlights another concern about Hurricane Florence: flooding that could spread pig waste, which carries bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella.
Amber Palmer is a graduate research assistant at ARAC. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Environmental Health Science and Policy at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. Amber received her Bachelor's from the University at Buffalo in Pharmacology and Toxicology. When she was in high school, there was accompany that used a park as a dumping ground for building materials. Learning about the cleanup process and how these materials affected the environment and health is what lead to her passion for public health.
Myles Rogers is a graduate research assistant at ARAC, working primarily in the laboratory researching the link between antimicrobial use in meat production and human antibiotic-resistant infections. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Environmental Health and Policy at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University. Myles graduated from Georgia Southern University with a Bachelor's degree in Geology and a minor in Geographic Information Systems. Before transitioning to George Washington, Myles worked at an environmental consulting firm for 2 years. This experience allowed him to realize he wanted a more multidisciplinary role at the intersection of environment and human well-being.
Wired reports on ARAC's new study, years in the making, that goes further than any other to demonstrate that resistant bacteria can move from animals to humans via the meat they become.