Environmental and public health implications of antibiotic-resistance genes in municipal wastewaters

Antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to public health in Europe leading to increasing health-care costs and deaths. Combating antibiotic resistance requires an understanding of the ecology of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs), their selection, and their spread in the environment. Although antibiotic resistance has involved research in clinically relevant human pathogens, environmental reservoirs and the contribution of ARGs in clinical settings have only been considered recently. In this article we discuss the links between human activities and the natural ecosystem that might influence the evolution and s…