Aquatic habitat modifications in La Plata River basin, Patagonia and associated marine areas.

This paper describes the environmental characteristics and situation of aquatic habitats and communities in southern continental and maritime areas of southeastern South America (Patagonian Shelf GIWA Subregion), resulting from an overall assessment carried out within the framework of a GIWA project, mostly on the basis of publicly available data. The main focus of the analysis was on the current situation of transboundary water resources and anthropogenic impacts. In the inland waters, habitat and community modifications result, principally, from dams and reservoirs built in the main watercourses for hydroelectric power generation and other uses.

Occurrence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in pork and poultry products from a cattle-rearing area of France.

Meat products were collected from public retail outlets and tested for the presence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in an area with a high prevalence of VRE reported in human fecal samples. VRE were detected in 66% of the samples, and a predominance of VanC strains was found, which is also true for human fecal samples.