Antimicrobial resistance to feature on ‘10 Things to Know About’ TV Programme
Antimicrobial resistance is a global health and development threat, declared by the World Health Organisation as one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity. Teagasc researchers study antimicrobial resistance from farm to fork, with a view to understanding the adaptation and persistence of such pathogens, maintaining healthy herds and protecting the safety of the food chain.
The TV programme, ‘10 Things to Know About … Outdoor Living’, which will broadcast tonight at 8.30PM on RTÉ One will address the topic of Antimicrobial resistance. Teagasc Food Safety researcher, Dr Kaye Burgess will discuss the AREST project, a multi-partner collaboration which is focused on antimicrobial resistance and the environment. Dr Burgess leads a working group that focuses on the impact of agricultural practices on the transmission of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms and measures that can be taken to minimise such transmission.
She explains: “Teagasc examined a number of factors, including the impact of land spreading of manures from different livestock species on antimicrobial resistance in soil and grass, the efficacy of integrated constructed wetlands at reducing antimicrobial resistant organisms in agricultural wastewater and the impact of anaerobic digestion on antimicrobial resistant organisms in waste. Through this work we have demonstrated that there are a range of measures which can be taken in primary production to minimise the transmission of antimicrobial resistant organisms. This One Health approach, linking the health of humans, animals and the environment is critical to addressing the public health threat that is antimicrobial resistance.
This work has been done in collaboration with colleagues in Maynooth University, University College Dublin, the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, National University of Ireland Galway and VESI Environmental. ”
Elsewhere in this episode, presenter Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin investigates the rise in the popularity of outdoor living and discusses the benefits it can have on our physical and mental health and presenter Jonathan McCrea visits Derrynane House – the ancestral home of Daniel O’Connell – to see how tourism and conservation can not only co-exist but complement each other.
View the promo video for series seven of the TV programme ‘10 Things to Know About…’ here: https://vimeo.com/636070057