BONUS SPRING SUMMER 2025

The concept of Natural Power Antibiotic resistance: What is it, and how are we involved? Jurie Naudé – Product Manager: Extensive Ruminants Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is the ability of bacteria (or other microbes) to resist the effects of an antibiotic that would normally kill themor stop their growth. In other words, the bacteria survive and continue tomultiply despite the presence of antibiotics that were once effective against them. According to dr Roelof Coetzee, a South African doctor currently doing research on ABR in Sweden, 1,3million people died in 2019 due to ABR. This happens through natural selection, co-selection and genetic changes, often accelerated by misuse or overuse of antibiotics in humans, animals, agriculture, and global travel and trade. Selection: When a bacterial infection is treated with an antibiotic, there are always a few of these bacteria that are resistant to the antibiotic. This is probably because antibiotics are produced by other microbes like fungi and other bacteria, which occur naturally and to which the problematic bacteria have been exposed. They will survive, and when they grow again after treatment, the % of ABR bacteria is larger, and the survival rate increases. The more often antibiotics are used, the faster the ABR increases. This is often accelerated by people not completing an antibiotic course, or sharing of antibiotics, or when antibiotics are used for flu symptoms that are viral and not bacterial. Genetic changes: Bacteria can exchange DNA with each other. A resistant, non-dangerous bacteria can exchange DNA and cause, for example, a non-resistant bacteria to become resistant. Co-selection: Research teams working on ABR have discovered that some bacteria have shown resistance against antibiotics to which they have never been exposed. This resistance was developed by exposure to rare earth metals. These rare earth metals are being mined increasingly to supply mainly the green technologies like wind turbines, car (EV) batteries, cell phones, etc. Mining these rare earth metals causes a release into the environment, resulting in increased ABR among bacteria. This happens especially around mining areas where most of the pollution around mines, yields metals. The misuse of antibiotics: All the above- mentioned factors are augmented by the misuse of antibiotics by humans, such as irresponsible prescription of antibiotics, non- completion of an antibiotic course, using old, unused antibiotics, sharing of antibiotics, and uncontrolled procurement of antibiotics www.agribonus.co.za Spring/Summer 2025 BONUS 85