Superbug that came from hedgehogs 源自刺蝟皮膚的超級細菌

研究發現，一種可抵禦抗生素、屬於耐甲氧西林金黃色葡萄球菌（MRSA）的超級細菌，是野生刺蝟皮膚上的真菌和細菌相互鬥爭而自然進化出來的。

Having discovered this strain of MRSA in dairy cattle a decade ago, scientists from the University of Cambridge wanted to know where it came from, and whether the use of antibiotics on farms had caused it to emerge.

十年前，劍橋大學的科學傢在乳牛中發現瞭耐甲氧西林金黃色葡萄球菌（MRSA）的這支菌株，他們想瞭解它來自何處，以及在農場使用抗生素是否導致瞭它的出現。

So, a team of biologists across Europe collected and examined more than a thousand samples of the bacteria taken from wild animals. Their painstaking genetic investigation revealed that the strain evolved on hedgehog skin more than 200 years ago in an evolutionary arms race with a common skin fungus that releases a natural antibiotic.

因此，來自歐洲各地的一個生物學傢團隊收集並檢查瞭從野生動物身上采集的一千多個樣本。經過潛心研究，他們的基因調查顯示，200多年前，這支菌株是在與一種釋放天然抗生素的普通皮膚真菌爭相進化時，在刺蝟的皮膚上演生出來的。

But the researchers stress that while it’s crucial to understand the sources of antibiotic resistance in nature, our own overuse of antibiotics is the main driver of resistance in harmful bacteria.

但研究人員強調，雖然瞭解自然界抗生素耐藥性的來源至關重要，但人類自身對抗生素的濫用才是有害細菌產生耐藥性的主要驅動因素。