The agricultural producer, therefore, that uses a suite of antibiotics to promote the growth of livestock is selecting for an enteric population of microbes with distinct antimicrobial characteristics. These distinct characteristics do not quickly change when those organisms are placed in the environment. Further, their antimicrobial fingerprint can be used to identify them and ultimately identify source. Antibiotic resistance of fecal streptococci as means of tracing the sources of fecal contamination has several other advantages. The methods are economical.
Fecal streptococci are relatively long-lived in the environment.
Under natural environmental conditions and in the short term fecal streptococci do not readily transfer genetic information. Finally, bacteriological selection procedures are straightforward. 44 Waters Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Ks. All educational programs and materials are available without discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.