If I got bugs in my jeans, I throw them out. I don't wear them in the arctic.

A bit of Permethrin. That'd kill them all, guaranteed.

Rich Haridy
2 hours ago

In a striking display of just how pervasive the superbug menace actually is, researchers have revealed the discovery of antibiotic-resistant genes in remote Arctic soil samples. The genes in question were only first identified a few years ago and have rapidly spread across 100 countries, into areas thousands of miles away with almost no human presence.

"Polar regions are among the last presumed pristine ecosystems on Earth, providing a platform for characterizing pre-antibiotic era background resistance against which we could understand rates of progression of AR (antibiotic-resistance) 'pollution'," explains David Graham, an environmental engineer with 15 years experience studying the transmission of AR genes around the globe.

The new study looked at a specific gene called blaNDM-1. This gene is responsible for producing a protein called NDM-1, which is known for conferring antibiotic resistance in a number of bacteria. The notorious gene was only discovered in 2008, but just two years later it was found in urban surface waters in Delhi, India.

The soil samples examined in this new study were taken from the Kongsfjorden region of Svalbard, a remote archipelago north of Norway. The samples were collected in 2013, less than three years after blaNDM-1 was first detected in India outside of clinical settings. This timeframe suggests the antibiotic-resistant gene took a frighteningly short period of time to spread across the globe.

More:
https://newatlas.com/superbug-antibiotic-resistant-gene-arctic-soil-study/58240/