By Victoria Gill
Science correspondent.
The image is from Pia B Hansen.
The image caption is.
Natural processes can give rise to antibiotic resistance, but the source of most human MRSA infections is not hedgehogs.
A battle between a fungus and a bacterium on the skin of wild hedgehogs resulted in the creation of an antibiotic-resistant superbug.
The "hedgehog-derived"bacteria were developed in nature long before antibiotics were discovered.
A research team found that a skin fungus in hedgehogs produces antibiotics.
The animals' skin became resistant to antibiotics.
The emergence of this particular superbug about 200 years ago was driven by natural biological processes, not antibiotics, according to the researchers.
The use of antibiotics on dairy farms was thought to have caused the mecC-MRSA to develop resistance.
This is a relatively rare example of antibiotic resistance arising naturally. The discovery presents a tiny fraction of the risks compared to the use of antibiotics in a human medical context, according to one of the lead researchers.
One in 200 human infections are caused by MecC-MRSA. The emergence of resistant strains is a result of the over use of antibiotics in humans and farm animals.
A decade ago, veterinary scientists from the University of Cambridge discovered the source of this particular type of MRSA.
"We looked at wildlife and farm animals to see how much of a problem it was, and found that it was very widely distributed in nature," said Prof.Holmes. About half of the animals we looked at had this type of MRSA.
The scientists collaborated with biologists, wildlife researchers and with rescue centers all around Europe.
"We wanted to know if there's a lot of resistantbacteria in a hedgehog?" Prof. Holmes asked.
More than 1,000 samples ofbacteria taken from wildlife around Europe were studied by research colleagues at the Statens SerumInstitut. They built a genetic code-based timeline which showed that the resistant strain had emerged in European hedgehogs in the early 1800s.
The image is from a source, Claire L Raisen.
The image caption is.
The clear zone on the right is caused by the antibiotics produced by the fungus in the center of the petri dish.
The penicillins were being released by the fungus growing on the hedgehog.
If you want to live on the hedgehog, you have to be resistant to the antibiotics that are being produced by the bacteria.
Alexander Fleming noticed that nobacteria could survive in his petri dish when he discovered penicillin in 1928, and the evolutionary "arms race" on the hedgehog's skin is a good example.
Antibiotic resistance is a threat to global health, food security, and development.
Misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals is speeding up the process of antibiotic resistance.
As antibiotics become less effective in treating infections, it is becoming harder to treat them.
The study is part of an ongoing effort by these scientists to understand where antibiotic resistantbacteria are, how they emerge, and what practices and sources pose the greatest risk to people.
"The reassuring thing is to be confident that it isn't the use of antibiotics in dairy farms that leads to this type of MRSA being present in people," said Prof. "That doesn't mean we should relax the rules on the use of antibiotics."
He said that all wildlife carries many different types ofbacteria, as well as parasites, fungi and viruses.
Humans, animals, and livestock are all connected. It is not possible to understand the evolution of antibiotic resistance unless you look at the whole system.
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