While scientists are scrambling to fight off superbugs, new research warns that governments and researchers are missing a critical piece: superbug research in wildlife and the natural world. Superbugs are not just a human concern, and there's no point trying to stop superbugs in humans and livestock if they're gaining strength and resistance in nature and wild animals.
The failure to do this research and take a holistic "One Health" approach (where humans, animals and nature are all interconnected) could be catatrospic. Already in the United States, 2 million Americans become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics every year and 23,000 of them will die. And a 2014 report commissioned by the UK Government found that "superbugs could kill an extra 10 million people a year" (that's more than currently die from cancer) and "cost up to $100 trillion globally by 2050 if not brought under control."
Sign and share this petition urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to include wildlife and the natural world in its superbug research.
(Photo Credit: NIAID)
