International Workshop on the Environmental Dimension of Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics are one of the main contributors to the increase of human lifetime in the past few decades, since they significantly help control infectious diseases. However, the spread of antibiotic resistance is a growing global problem. The prevalence of bacterial infections that are now recalcitrant to antibiotic treatment has resulted in increasing morbidity and mortality as well as increasing health care costs. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has described antibiotic resistance as “one of the world’s most pressing health problems”, while the World Health Organization (WHO) identified it as “one of the three greatest threats to human health”. The development of antibiotic resistance in various environments has received greater attention in response to the clinical concerns. Currently, relatively little is known about the occurrence, fate and transport of antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in various environments including soil and water polluted by agricultural effluents, municipal or septic wastewater, or discharges from antibiotic manufacturing facilities. What significance anthropogenic activities may have on promoting and disseminating antibiotic resistance in the environment, and what might the efficacy of mitigation measures be is a question of pressing scientific and regulatory concern.