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News - ARS Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Alternatives to Antibiotics (ATA) Research

2024
Oct 15	New Oat Ready for Active Duty Against Crown Rust Disease A team of ARS and university scientists has released two new oat germplasm lines to shore up the cereal crop’s defenses against its most devastating fungal disease, known as “crown rust.” This research may reduce the need for fungicides.
Sep 30	Raise Your Own Nematodes ARS researchers are generating a more robust and cost-effective way for farmers to activate their own environmental pest control for a variety of crops. It involves formulating and mass-producing nematodes to create a natural biopesticide.
Sep 24	USDA Science Addresses Antimicrobial Resistance in Agriculture Leading up to the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR on September 26th, USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, highlights AMR and ATA accomplishments made at ARS.
Sep 23	Reversible Biocides May Improve Animal Health, Food Safety, and the Environment ARS scientists developed novel, reversible biocides that kill disease-causing bacteria while minimizing other toxic effects. Researchers found that reversible biocides were effective at treating digital dermatitis, a painful hoof disease in cattle that often leads to lameness. These novel biocides also fell apart when diluted in water to smaller compounds, which are nontoxic and biodegradable under environmental conditions.
Sep 17	US Biologic, Inc. and the Agricultural Research Service Announce Breakthrough Oral Alternative to Antibiotics for Poultry ARS and US Biologic, Inc. announce findings of a new alternative to antibiotics called cNK-2 which works in the face of coccidiosis, a disease which costs the poultry industry $3.5B in annual losses worldwide.
Aug 15	$3.34 Million USDA Grant Supports Development of Organic Poultry Industry Drs. Palmy Jesudhasan, Komala Arsi, and Annie Donoghue at USDA-ARS will lead an initiative to test a novel vaccine that protects against Salmonella and Campylobacter, bacteria important to food safety.
Jul 22	Protecting Mangoes from a Devastating Disease ARS researchers in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, are working closely with the mango industry to develop new lines of mangoes that are resistant to anthracnose disease, which could reduce the need for fungicides.
Jun 11	USDA Scientist Dr. Aspen Workman Recognized for Scientific Breakthrough Discovery Dr. Aspen Workman was honored with the Arthur S. Flemming Award in Applied Science and Engineering for her research that resulted in the first gene-edited calf with resistance to bovine viral diarrhea virus. This research has implications for animal health and food security.
Apr 09	Finding the "Silver Lining" in Cotton Gin Waste Scientists transform silver ions from cotton gin waste into silver nanoparticles to create a new hybrid material that could be used to add antimicrobial properties to consumer products.
Mar 20	Scientists Collaborate to Study the Cause and Development of Liver Abscesses in Cattle The primary treatment to prevent liver abscesses has been in-feed antibiotics. ARS scientists created an experimental model of liver abscesses, which can be used to develop alternative treatments for liver abscesses. Watch a video on this topic here.
Mar 20	Witch Hazel Spells Trouble for Harmful Microbes Scientists demonstrated witch hazel's antimicrobial properties.
Feb 26	USDA Scientists Develop Technology to Reduce Pathogens in Intact Eggs This technology was shown to reduce Salmonella in eggs.
Jan 30	A Green Alternative For Treating Streptococcus Iniae Bacteria in Hybrid Striped Bass Scientists developed a green antibiotic alternative to treat the deadly pathogen Streptococcus iniae in hybrid striped bass.
Jan 16	Honey's Sweet Benefits Researchers examine the way honey affects the gut microbial community.
Jan 02	The Antimicrobial Benefits of Mushrooms A mushroom component could be used to inhibit the growth of fungi and bacteria in foods.
2023
Nov 28	From Toxin to Tonic A compound created from tunicamycin may prove useful in infection prevention and control.
Oct 12	Citrus Greening: Is the End in Sight? Citrus Greening has devastated the American citrus industry since 2005 and ARS scientists may have found a solution that doesn’t require pesticides or bactericides.
Jun 15	The 'Eyes' Have It Scientists created a tool for rapid fever detection in cattle. This can allow for more targeted treatments, potentially reducing antibiotic use.
Jun 14	Advances in Research Pave the Way for New Treatments, Diagnostics, and Vaccines Scientists improve our understanding of pink eye in cattle with a goal of creating diagnostics and non-antibiotic treatments and interventions.
May 9	Scientists Use Gene-Editing Technology to Produce First Calf Resistant to Major Viral Disease “The edited calf also represents another potential opportunity to lessen the need for antibiotics in agriculture since BVDV infection also puts calves at risk for secondary bacterial diseases.”
Jan 30	Improving the Sustainability and Value of Cotton's Natural Fibers Silver or copper nanoparticles incorporated into cotton show antimicrobial effects.
2022
Sep 06	Enlisting Fiber in the Fight Against AMR This study showed that a more diverse diet that is high in fiber is associated with lower antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the gut.
Aug 24	Building a Better Trout Antibiotics have been the main tool against disease, and by developing fish that are naturally disease-resistant, it’s possible to limit the amount of antibiotics that are used.
Jul 28	Taking a Holistic Approach to Food Safety Researchers add pulsed light to an arsenal of tools to decontaminate foods.
Jul 27	What’s the Answer to AMR? Researchers study poultry management practices and develop AMR mitigation tools using bioinformatics.
2021
Jul 14	USDA ARS and Collaborators Research Shows Innovative Technology to Treat Plant Pathogens and Pests Researchers found that the molecule FANA ASO can be used an alternative to antibiotics to target plant pests.
Jun 4	USDA and US Biologic, Inc. Announce New Oral Solution to Combat Major Poultry Disease Researchers developed an oral alternative to antibiotics for coccidiosis in poultry.
May 3	USDA Scientist Named Finalist for Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for Groundbreaking Research USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) research chemist William Hart-Cooper was awarded for developing a new class of disinfectants, as well as packaging that protects human health and reduces pollution.
2020
Nov 23	Compound from Soil Bacterium Gets Reboot as Antibiotics Super Booster TunR2 compound increases potency of beta-lactam antibiotics.
Nov 18	Model Filter System Removes Antibiotics from Wastewater Scientists use four layers of natural materials to filter antibiotics found in wastewater.
Jul 24	Science Shows Less Can Equal More Researchers compared fecal AMR levels between beef cattle raised without antibiotics and cattle raised conventionally with no restrictions on antibiotic use other than regulatory compliance and found no significant difference in most cases.
2019
Sep 30	Healthier Waterways, Healthier You Microbiologists study pathogens in the environment.
May 29	Antibiotic Alternative Scores Well in Second Round of Swine Trials ARS scientists see promising results for a natural antimicrobial enzyme as a possible alternative to antibiotics for promoting pig health and growth.
Mar 26	ARS Culture Collection: A Valuable Resource The collection houses approximately 100,000 strains of bacteria and fungi and is a valuable resource for researchers.
2018
Nov 16	Antimicrobial Resistance and Whole Genome Sequencing – What is Changing? Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) scientists explain whole genome sequencing (WGS) as it relates to AMR. WGS is used in the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS).
Nov 15	Antimicrobial Resistance – What does USDA Research Tell Us? USDA ARS studies AMR in the environment and develops strategies to mitigate AMR in the environment. It also develops therapeutics.
Nov 13	USDA’s Role in Combatting Antimicrobial Resistance USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Research Service, and National Institute of Food and Agriculture all play roles in the fight against AMR.
Jan 24	Alternative Antibiotic Gives Piglets a Boost ARS scientists study a natural antimicrobial enzyme as a possible alternative to antibiotics for promoting pig health and growth.
2017
Oct 18	A Big Step towards Reducing Strep in Farm-Raised Tilapia ARS researchers showed that selective breeding for disease resistance is a promising alternative to antibiotics.
Jan 18	Test Uses Novel Antibodies to Detect Shiga Toxins USDA scientists developed a highly sensitive test to detect all known Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), an important foodborne pathogen.
2016
Nov	ARS’s “One Health” Antibiotic Awareness ARS observes the 20th anniversary of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), along with World Antibiotic Awareness Week and Get Smart about Antibiotics Week.
Nov 10	ARS's 'One Health' Antibiotic Awareness ARS is working with other government agencies to study bacteria in an interdisciplinary approach to mitigate antimicrobial resistance.
Sep 21	Prairies Yield Clues for Antibiotic Resistance Scientists found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in prairie soils that had little or no exposure to human or animal activity.
Jan 20	Antimicrobial Wash Reduces Health Risks in Fresh Produce A combination of lactic acid, fruit acids, and hydrogen peroxide can be used in a produce rinse to reduce the risk of foodborne pathogens.
2015
May 28	Natural Enzyme Examined as Antibiotics Alternative Lysozyme, a naturally occurring antimicrobial enzyme, may prove useful as an antibiotic alternative in swine.