Image-of-the-Week: Chile’s Antarctic Superbug


Escherichia coli: Mattosaurus via Wikimedia Commons.

Escherichia coli: Mattosaurus via Wikimedia Commons. 

Escherichia coli bacteria are ubiquitous in the lower gut of warm-blooded critters, and because we’re warm-blooded and more or less ubiquitous on planet Earth, so are E. coli. While many strains are harmless, others are deadly. A new paper in Applied and Environmental Microbiology reports that one-fourth of seawater samples collected off Antarctica now contain E. coli that  carry genes to make the enzyme ESBL. This enzyme is known to destroy antibiotics and is potentially more dangerous than the superbug MRSA. The contaminated seawater samples were found off three Chilean research stations, none of which deploy any form of sewage treatment. So far none of these superbug E. coli have been found in penguins. The researchers are beginning to investigate the local gulls. WTF, Chile? Clean your mierda.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate