The abuse of antibiotics has become a worldwide problem. The World Health Organization has published an article calling for antimicrobial resistance to cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050 and cause 100 trillion US dollars in economic losses.
If global coordinated action is not taken immediately, the world will enter the post-antibiotic era, by which time ordinary infections will become fatal again. For example, the first case of "superbug" infection occurred in the United States, and all antibiotics were useless.
The latest research shows that the abuse of antibiotics is not only harmful to humans, but also has a serious impact on the atmospheric environment and agriculture.
A research team led by Dr. Tobin Hammer, University of Colorado, Pod City, USA, found that cattle that have taken antibiotics may release more methane gas that is unfavorable to the climate.
They chose 10 cows, 5 of them took tetracycline, an antibiotic commonly used in agriculture, and the other 5 did not. It was found that cows taking antibiotics had twice as much methane in their feces as cows who did not take them.
Researchers said that antibiotics will change the microbial environment in the stomach and feces, increasing the methane-producing microbes in the cow’s intestine.