PREFACE
The mission of Volume 4 of the Phenomenology of Biocatastrophe publication series is
to provide timely commentary and updates on the emergence and growth of antibiotic
resistant and viral infections, as well as on other important widespread threats to human
health such as the Zika outbreak, Legionnaire’s disease, norovirus infections, and the
rapid increase in Lyme disease. There is a broad spectrum of antibiotic resistant
microbes (ARM) now impacting a wide variety of bacteria, fungi, pathogens, and other
microbial communities. The venues for their identification are the same hospitals,
clinics, and research laboratories that lead to the pioneering adaptation of antimicrobial
organisms to fight infectious diseases in developed and developing nations. In the
United States, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) is the most important source of
information on acquired bacterial resistance in human health, including its proliferation
in the general community. The CDC publication, Antibiotic Resistance: Threats in the
United States 2013 is reprinted in its entirety in Appendix 1 of this text.
An annotated selection of some of the most important NGO and international
governmental (e.g. WHO) research on emerging bacterial infections and their sources
precede the CDC report. The bibliographies are introduced by an overview of the
historical context of the growth of antibiotic resistant microbes, including in ancient
microbiomes of the distant past, and a synopsis of other infections of interest.
Commentary includes observations about the human biome and the environmental,
economic, social, and public health sources of resistant bacteria now rapidly spreading
throughout the health care systems of the world and the communities they serve.
The United States and other developed nations have sophisticated public health systems
that can quickly identify and then, at least partially, mitigate the impact of antibiotic
resistant diseases (ABRD). In other countries, a much smaller percentage of the
population has access to the sophisticated medical facilities that characterize developed
nations. In vulnerable BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) nations of the developing
world, hundreds of millions, if not billions, of citizens do not have access to clean water
supplies or adequate sewage systems. The reality of health care inequality (synonymous
with fresh water inequality) also affects many US citizens, as shown by the recent
outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease in Flint, MI, with its high levels of lead in its
drinking water. The potential impact of pandemics derived from a wide variety of
microorganisms pose increasing public health threats as world population and
frequency of international travel increase, factors supplementing the rising threat of
antibiotic resistant diseases. The threat of antibiotic resistance is worldwide. The world
is now, in effect, getting smaller just as its supplies of potable fresh water, including