Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria by Stephen Harrod Buhner

bacteria throughout the world. As Dr. Jeffrey Fisher, in his book
The Plague Makers
, notes:
    The resistant bacteria that result from this reckless practice do not stay confined to the animals from which they develop. There are no “cow bacteria” or “pig bacteria” or “chicken bacteria.” In terms of the microbial world, we humans along with the rest of the animal kingdom are part of one giant ecosystem. The same resistant bacteria that grow in the intestinal tract of a cow or pig can, and do, eventually end up in our bodies. 32
    This is especially true if antibiotics flow into water. This promotes the transmission of resistant traits throughout the environment because bacterial growth is high wherever water-related biofilms occur: on the surface of water, on stones in water, and in the sediment of ponds, rivers, and oceans. Antibiotics given to fish contact all these regions, as does the antibiotic-rich effluent from factory farms and human waste treatment facilities. Resistance transfers in these biofilm regions from domestic to wild bacteria and it tends to persist in these natural ecosystems.
    Researchers Christian Daughton and Thomas Ternes report that “a number of stream surveys documented the significant prevalence of native bacteria that display resistance to a wide array of antibiotics including vancomycin. Isolates from wild geese near Chicago, Illinois, are reported to be resistant to ampicillin, tetracycline, penicillin, and erythromycin.” 33 Researchers have found 16 antibiotics commonly present in groundwater/surface waters that are detectable in the microgram-per-liter range. Some researchers report that these antibiotic compounds are showing genotoxicity; that is, they are affecting the integrity of genetic structures in other life-forms. Daughton and Ternes comment that this is indeed cause for concern, as the bacteria never seem to forget what has been done to them:
    Indeed, the rampant, widespread (and sometimes indiscriminate) use of antibiotics, coupled with their subsequent release into the environment, is the leading proposed cause of accelerated spreading resistance among bacterial pathogens, which is exacerbated by the fact that resistance is maintained even in the absence of continued selective pressure (an irreversible occurrence). Sufficiently high concentrations could also have acute effects on bacteria. Such exposures could easily lead to altered microbial community structures in nature and thereby affect the higher food chain. 34
    Salmon, catfish, and trout—all raised commercially—are heavily dosed with antibiotics and other drugs, which are often blended into their food. As the food gets wet, the antibiotics begin to leach into the water. Commercial salmon, unlike catfish and trout, are raised in the open sea in pens, speeding the flow of antibacterials throughoutthe oceans. Because of crowded conditions, the 55 million pounds of commercial U.S. salmon are frequently dosed with antibiotics for long periods of time—about 150 pounds of antibiotic per acre of salmon. Stuart Levy comments:
    Since they are deposited in the water, [antibiotics] can be picked up easily by other marine animals. Tetracycline is not rapidly degraded in fish. Thus, it is excreted in its active state in feces and deposited on the sea floor. Here, too, it remains relatively stable, out of direct sunlight, which can degrade it. Consequently, the ecological effect of this antibacterial agent in the sea is the same as it is in land animals: the long-term selection of resistant and multi-resistant bacteria in salmon and other marine life. 35
    Plant communities and soil are also exposed to direct antibiotic use, not just through effluent flows. To treat infections in mono-cropped fields, especially while attacking fire blight in apple and pear orchards, antibiotics such as streptomycin are sometimes sprayed in heavy doses directly on crops. In the United States, between 40,000