A newly developed Escherichia coli isolate panel from a cross section of U.S. animal production systems reveals geographic and commodity-based differences in antibiotic resistance gene carriage.

There are limited numbers of Escherichia coli isolate panels that represent United States food animal production. The majority of existing Escherichia coli isolate panels are typically designed: (i) to optimize genetic and/or phenotypic diversity; or (ii) focus on human isolates. To address this shortfall in agriculturally-related resources, we have assembled a publicly-available isolate panel (AgEc) from the four major animal production commodities in the United States, including beef, dairy, poultry, and swine, as well as isolates from agriculturally-impacted environments, and other commodity groups.

Tetracycline and Sulfonamide Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Soils From Nebraska Organic Farming Operations.

There is widespread agreement that agricultural antibiotic resistance should be reduced, however, it is unclear from the available literature what an appropriate target for reduction would be. Organic farms provide a unique opportunity to disentangle questions of agricultural antibiotic drug use from questions of antibiotic resistance in the soil. In this study, soil was collected from 12 certified organic farms in Nebraska, evaluated for the presence of tetracycline and sulfonamide resistance genes ( = 15 targets), and correlated to soil physical, chemical, and biological parameters.

Medical technologist career commitment and satisfaction with job benefits.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of career commitment on satisfaction with job-related benefits. A validated seven-point career commitment scale was used to measure career commitment. A 31-item benefits survey was used to collect data on satisfaction.