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How wild are wild mammals?

Nature volume 409, page 38 (2001)Cite this article

Gilliver et al. reply

The study by Österblad et al. confirms the importance of understanding the role of commensal bacteria, particularly in wildlife, in the ecology of antibiotic resistance. The two studies combined suggest that the gut flora of wildlife populations with very little or no contact with either humans or anthropogenic antibiotics (Österblad et al.'s study) may have negligible levels of antibiotic resistance, whereas wildlife populations living in closer proximity to humans but still with no known direct contact with anthropogenic antibiotics (our study) may have much higher levels of antibiotic resistance.

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References

  1. Routman, E., Miller, R. D., Phillips-Conroy, J. & Hartl, D. L. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 50, 749– 754 (1985).

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  1. Centre for Comparative Infectious Diseases, University of Liverpool, PO Box 147, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK

    Moira A. Gilliver, Malcom Bennett, Michael Begon, Sarah M. Hazel & C. Anthony Hart

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  1. Moira A. Gilliver
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Gilliver, M., Bennett, M., Begon, M. et al. How wild are wild mammals?. Nature 409, 38 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35051176

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