Treatment for gastroenteritis due to "Y. enterocolitica" is not needed in the majority of cases. Severe infections with systemic involvement (sepsis or bacteremia) often requires aggressive antibiotic therapy; the drugs of choice are doxycycline and an aminoglycoside. Alternatives include cefotaxime, fluoroquinolones, and co-trimoxazole.

The 2007 guideline “Official American Thoracic Society (ATS) and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) statement: diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of non-tuberculosis mycobacterial diseases”, notes that M. fortuitum isolates are usually susceptible to multiple oral antimicrobial agents, including the macrolides and quinolones, doxycycline and minocycline, and sulfonamides. Isolates of this mycobacterium are susceptible to the beta-lactam antibiotics, belonging to the carbopenam subgroup, such as Imipenem. Imipenem is a broad spectrum antibiotic produced by the bacteria Streptomyces cattleya. Ondansetron HCL (Zofran) is an antiemetic often given to offset the nausea and vomiting that are a common side effect of Imipenem. Severe infections require IV treatment combined with oral antibiotics for a prolonged period, up to several months. The guideline recommends “for serious skin, bone, and soft tissue M fortuitum disease, a minimum of 4 months of therapy with at least two agents with in vitro activity against the clinical isolate is necessary to provide a high likelihood of cure. Surgery is generally indicated with extensive disease, abscess formation, or where drug therapy is difficult.”

Yersiniosis is usually self-limiting and does not require treatment. For severe infections (sepsis, focal infection) especially if associated with immunosuppression, the recommended regimen includes doxycycline in combination with an aminoglycoside. Other antibiotics active against "Y. enterocolitica" include trimethoprim-sulfamethoxasole, fluoroquinolones, ceftriaxone, and chloramphenicol. "Y. enterocolitica" is usually resistant to penicillin G, ampicillin, and cephalotin due to beta-lactamase production.

The World Health Organization recommends the following:

- Food should be properly cooked and hot when served.

- Consume only pasteurized or boiled milk and milk products, never raw milk products.

- Make sure that ice is from safe water.

- If you are not sure of the safety of drinking water, boil it, or disinfect it with chemical disinfectant.

- Wash hands thoroughly and frequently with soap, especially after using the toilet and after contact with pets and farm animals.

- Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, especially if they are to be eaten raw. Peel fruits and vegetables whenever possible.

- Food handlers, professionals and at home, should observe hygienic rules during food preparation.

- Professional food handlers should immediately report to their employer any fever, diarrhea, vomiting or visible infected skin lesions.

The infection is usually self-limiting, and in most cases, symptomatic treatment by liquid and electrolyte replacement is enough in human infections.

Yersiniosis is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium of the genus "Yersinia". In the United States, most yersiniosis infections among humans are caused by "Yersinia enterocolitica". The infection by "Y. enterocolitica" is also known as pseudotuberculosis. Yersiniosis is mentioned as a specific zoonotic disease to prevent outbreaks in European Council Directive 92/117/EEC.

Infection with " Y . enterocolitica" occurs most often in young children. The infection is thought to be contracted through the consumption of undercooked meat products, unpasteurized milk, or water contaminated by the bacteria. It has been also sometimes associated with handling raw chitterlings.

Another bacterium of the same genus, "Yersinia pestis", is the cause of Plague.

Tiamulin, chlortetracycline or tilmicosin may be used to treat and prevent the spread of the disease.

Vaccination is a very effective method of control, and also has an effect on pig productivity.

Eradication of the disease is possible but the organism commonly reinfects herds.

"Y. enterocolitica" infections are sometimes followed by chronic inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, erythema nodosum, and reactive arthritis. This is most likely because of some immune-mediated mechanism.

"Y. enterocolitica" seems to be associated with autoimmune Graves-Basedow thyroiditis.

Whilst indirect evidence exists, direct causative evidence is limited,

and "Y. enterocolitica" is probably not a major cause of this disease, but may contribute to the development of thyroid autoimmunity arising for other reasons in genetically susceptible individuals.

"Y. enterocolitica" infection has also been suggested to not be the cause of autoimmune thyroid disease, but rather is only an associated condition, with both having a shared inherited susceptibility.

More recently, the role for "Y. enterocolitica" has been disputed.

When infection attacks the body, "anti-infective" drugs can suppress the infection. Several broad types of anti-infective drugs exist, depending on the type of organism targeted; they include antibacterial (antibiotic; including antitubercular), antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic (including antiprotozoal and antihelminthic) agents. Depending on the severity and the type of infection, the antibiotic may be given by mouth or by injection, or may be applied topically. Severe infections of the brain are usually treated with intravenous antibiotics. Sometimes, multiple antibiotics are used in case there is resistance to one antibiotic. Antibiotics only work for bacteria and do not affect viruses. Antibiotics work by slowing down the multiplication of bacteria or killing the bacteria. The most common classes of antibiotics used in medicine include penicillin, cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, macrolides, quinolones and tetracyclines.

Not all infections require treatment, and for many self-limiting infections the treatment may cause more side-effects than benefits. Antimicrobial stewardship is the concept that healthcare providers should treat an infection with an antimicrobial that specifically works well for the target pathogen for the shortest amount of time and to only treat when there is a known or highly suspected pathogen that will respond to the medication.

"Mycobacterium fortuitum" is a fast-growing species that can cause infections. The term "fast growing" is a reference to a growth rate of 3 or 4 days, when compared to other Mycobacteria that may take weeks to grow out on laboratory media. Pulmonary infections of "M. fortuitum" are uncommon, but "Mycobacterium fortuitum" can cause local skin disease, osteomyelitis (inflammation of the bone), joint infections and infections of the eye after trauma. "Mycobacterium fortuitum" has a worldwide distribution and can be found in natural and processed water, sewage, and dirt.

Bacteria classified as Mycobacteria, include the causative agents for tuberculosis and leprosy. Mycobacteria are sometimes referred to as “acid-fast bacteria,” a term referencing their response to a laboratory staining technique. This simply means that when microscopic slides of these bacteria are rinsed with an acidic solution, they retain a red dye. "Mycobacterium fortuitum" is one of the many species of nontuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) that are commonly found in the environment. These are not involved in tuberculosis. This does not mean, however, that they will not cause an infection in the right circumstances.

"M. fortuitum" infection can be a nosocomial (hospital acquired) disease. Surgical sites may become infected after the wound is exposed directly or indirectly to contaminated tap water. Other possible sources of "M. fortuitum" infection include implanted devices such as catheters, injection site abscesses, and contaminated endoscopes. Recent publication on Rapidly Growing Mycobacteria (RGM) is available provides the following aspects of RGM: (i) its sources, predisposing factors, clinical manifestations, and concomitant fungal infections; (ii) the risks of misdiagnoses in the management of RGM infections in dermatological settings; (iii) the diagnoses and outcomes of treatment responses in common and uncommon infections in immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients; (iv) conventional versus current molecular methods for the detection of RGM; (v) the basic principles of a promising MALDI-TOF MS, sampling protocol for cutaneous or subcutaneous lesions and its potential for the precise differentiation of "M. fortuitum", "M. chelonae", and "M. abscessus"; and (vi) improvements in RGM infection management as described in the recent 2011 Clinical and

Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines, including interpretation criteria of molecular methods and antimicrobial drug panels and their break points [minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs)], which have been highlighted for the initiation of antimicrobial therapy (Kothavade RJ et al., 2012).

As "Flavobacterium columnare" is Gram-negative, fish can be treated with a combination of the antibiotics furan-2 and kanamycin administered together. A medicated fish bath (using methylene blue or potassium permanganate and salt), is generally a first step, as well lowering the aquarium temperature to 75 °F (24 °C) is a must, since columnaris is much more virulent at higher temperatures, especially 85–90 °F.

Medicated food containing oxytetracycline is also an effective treatment for internal infections, but resistance is emerging. Potassium permanganate, copper sulfate, and hydrogen peroxide can also be applied externally to adult fish and fry, but can be toxic at high concentrations. Vaccines can also be given in the face of an outbreak or to prevent disease occurrence.

The following steps and precautions should be used to avoid infection of the septicemic plague:

- Caregivers of infected patients should wear masks, gloves, goggles and gowns

- Take antibiotics if close contact with infected patient has occurred

- Use insecticides throughout house

- Avoid contact with dead rodents or sick cats

- Set traps if mice or rats are present around the house

- Do not allow family pets to roam in areas where plague is common

- Flea control and treatment for animals (especially rodents)

The prime example for MDR against antiparasitic drugs is malaria. "Plasmodium vivax" has become chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistant a few decades ago, and as of 2012 artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum has emerged in western Cambodia and western Thailand.

"Toxoplasma gondii" can also become resistant to artemisinin, as well as atovaquone and sulfadiazine, but is not usually MDR

Antihelminthic resistance is mainly reported in the veterinary literature, for example in connection with the practice of livestock drenching and has been recent focus of FDA regulation.

There is usually an indication for a specific identification of an infectious agent only when such identification can aid in the treatment or prevention of the disease, or to advance knowledge of the course of an illness prior to the development of effective therapeutic or preventative measures. For example, in the early 1980s, prior to the appearance of AZT for the treatment of AIDS, the course of the disease was closely followed by monitoring the composition of patient blood samples, even though the outcome would not offer the patient any further treatment options. In part, these studies on the appearance of HIV in specific communities permitted the advancement of hypotheses as to the route of transmission of the virus. By understanding how the disease was transmitted, resources could be targeted to the communities at greatest risk in campaigns aimed at reducing the number of new infections. The specific serological diagnostic identification, and later genotypic or molecular identification, of HIV also enabled the development of hypotheses as to the temporal and geographical origins of the virus, as well as a myriad of other hypothesis. The development of molecular diagnostic tools have enabled physicians and researchers to monitor the efficacy of treatment with anti-retroviral drugs. Molecular diagnostics are now commonly used to identify HIV in healthy people long before the onset of illness and have been used to demonstrate the existence of people who are genetically resistant to HIV infection. Thus, while there still is no cure for AIDS, there is great therapeutic and predictive benefit to identifying the virus and monitoring the virus levels within the blood of infected individuals, both for the patient and for the community at large.

Tigecycline, a member of the glycylcyclines antibiotics, has proven to be an effective therapy against Enterobacteriaceae that typically display tetracycline resistance, because tigecycline has a higher binding affinity with ribosomal sites than tetracycline has. Tigecycline is capable of killing almost all of the ESBLs and multidrug-resistant (MDR) "E. coli" isolates and the large majority of ESBL and MDR isolates of "Klebsiella" species.

A 2008 review of 42 studies of "in vitro" susceptibility of bacteria to tigecycline showed that MDR "K. pneumoniae" and "E. coli", including those that were carbapenem resistant, were susceptible more than 90% of the time. A limited number of patients have been treated with tigecycline, but the FDA has approved it in certain cases with synergies of other drugs. The limited number of patients indicates that more trials are needed to determine the overall clinical effectiveness.

Although tigecycline is the one of the first lines of defense against carbapenemase-producing isolates, negative clinical outcomes with tigecycline have occurred. Both urinary tract and primary blood infections can make tigecycline ineffective, because it has limited penetration and rapid tissue diffusion after being intravenously infused, respectively.

Hospitals are primary transmission sites for CRE-based infections. Up to 75% of hospital admissions attributed to CRE were from long-term care facilities or transferred from another hospital. Suboptimal maintenance practices are the largest cause of CRE transmission. This includes the failure to adequately clean and disinfect medication cabinets, other surfaces in patient rooms, and portable medical equipment, such as X-ray and ultrasound machines that are used for both CRE and non-CRE patients.

Thus far, CRE have primarily been nosocomial infectious agents. Almost all CRE infections occur in people receiving significant medical care in hospitals, long-term acute care facilities, or nursing homes. Independent risk factors for CRE infection include use of beta-lactam antibiotics and the use of mechanical ventilation. Patients with diabetes have also been shown to be at an elevated risk for acquiring CRE infections. When compared to other hospitalized patients, those admitted from long-term acute care (LTAC) facilities have significantly higher incidence of colonization and infection rates. Another 2012 multicenter study found that over 30% of patients with recent exposure to LTAC were colonized or infected with CRE. A person susceptible to CRE transmission is more likely to be female, have a greater number of parenteral nutrition-days (meaning days by which the person received nutrition via the bloodstream), and to have had a significant number of days breathing through a ventilator.

Infections with carbapenem-resistant "Klebsiella pneumoniae" were associated with organ/stem cell transplantation, mechanical ventilation, exposure to antimicrobials, and overall longer length of stay in hospitals.

People most likely to acquire carbapenem-resistant bacteria are those already receiving medical attention. In a study carried out at Sheba medical center, there was a trend toward worse Charleson Comorbidity scores in patients who acquired CRKP during ICU stay. Those at highest risk are patients receiving an organ or stem cell implantation, use of mechanical ventilation, or have to have an extended stay in the hospital along with exposure to antimicrobials. In a study performed in Singapore, the acquisition of ertapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae to the acquisition of CRE. Exposure to antibiotics, especially fluoroquinolones, and previous hospitalization dramatically increased the risk of acquisition carbapenem-resistant bacteria. This study found that carbapenem-resistant acquisition has a significantly higher mortality rate and poorer clinical response compared to that of the ertapenem-resistance acquisition.

Bacteruria (also known as urinary tract infection) caused by CRKp and CSKp have similar risk factors. These include prior antibiotic use, admittance to an ICU, use of a permanent urinary catheter, and previous invasive procedures or operations. A retrospective study of patients with CRKp and CSKp infection asserted that the use of cephalosporins (a class of β-lactam antibiotics) used before invasive procedures was higher in patients with CRKp infection, suggesting that it is a risk factor.

In a three-year study, the prevalence of CRE was shown to be proportional to the lengths of stays of the patients in those hospitals. Policies regarding contact precaution for patients infected or colonized by Gram-negative pathogens were also observed in hospitals reporting decreases in CRE prevalence.

One case study showed that patients with a compromised immune response are especially susceptible to both CRE exposure and infection. In one study, an elderly patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia being treated in a long-term care facility contracted a CRE infection. Her age and condition, combined with her environment and regulation by a catheter and mechanical ventilation, all contributed to a higher susceptibility. This highlights the importance of finding the source of the bacteria, as members of this class of patients are at continued risk for infection. Infection control and prevention of CRE should be the main focus in managing patients at high risk.

Another major risk factor is being in a country with unregulated antibiotic distribution. In countries where antibiotics are over-the counter and obtainable without a prescription, the incidence and prevalence of CRE infections were higher. One study from Japan found that 6.4% of healthy adults carried ESBL (mostly cefotaximase)-producing strains compared to 58.4% in Thailand, where antibiotics are available over the counter and without prescription. An Egyptian research group found that 63.3% of healthy adults were colonized.

In February 2015, the FDA reported about a transmission risk when people undergo a gastroenterology procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, where an endoscope enters the mouth, passes the stomach, and ends in the duodenum; if incompletely disinfected, the device can transmit CRE from one patient to another. The FDA's safety communication came a day after the UCLA Health System, Los Angeles, notified more than 100 patients that they may have been infected with CRE during endoscopies between October 2014 and January 2015. The FDA had issued its first notice about the devices in 2009.

HIV is the prime example of MDR against antivirals, as it mutates rapidly under monotherapy.

Influenza virus has become increasingly MDR; first to amantadenes, then to neuraminidase inhibitors such as oseltamivir, (2008-2009: 98.5% of Influenza A tested resistant), also more commonly in people with weak immune systems. Cytomegalovirus can become resistant to ganciclovir and foscarnet under treatment, especially in immunosuppressed patients. Herpes simplex virus rarely becomes resistant to acyclovir preparations, mostly in the form of cross-resistance to famciclovir and valacyclovir, usually in immunosuppressed patients.

Several antibiotics are available for the treatment of redmouth disease in fish. Vaccines can also be used in the treatment and prevention of disease. Management factors such as maintaining water quality and a low stocking density are essential for disease prevention.

Antibiotics can cause severe reactions and add significantly to the cost of care. In the United States, antibiotics and anti-infectives are the leading cause of adverse effect from drugs. In a study of 32 States in 2011, antibiotics and anti-infectives accounted for nearly 24 percent of ADEs that were present on admission, and 28 percent of those that occurred during a hospital stay.

Prescribing by an infectious disease specialist compared with prescribing by a non-infectious disease specialist decreases antibiotic consumption and reduces costs.

Though antibiotics are required to treat severe bacterial infections, misuse has contributed to a rise in bacterial resistance. The overuse of fluoroquinolone and other antibiotics fuels antibiotic resistance in bacteria, which can inhibit the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections. Their excessive use in children with otitis media has given rise to a breed of bacteria resistant to antibiotics entirely.

Widespread use of fluoroquinolones as a first-line antibiotic has led to decreased antibiotic sensitivity, with negative implications for serious bacterial infections such as those associated with cystic fibrosis, where quinolones are among the few viable antibiotics.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) evolved from Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) otherwise known as common "S. aureus". Many people are natural carriers of "S. aureus", without being affected in any way. MSSA was treatable with the antibiotic methicillin until it acquired the gene for antibiotic resistance. Though genetic mapping of various strains of MRSA, scientists have found that MSSA acquired the mecA gene in the 1960s, which accounts for its pathogenicity, before this it had a predominantly commensal relationship with humans. It is theorized that when this "S. aureus" strain that had acquired the mecA gene was introduced into hospitals, it came into contact with other hospital bacteria that had already been exposed to high levels of antibiotics. When exposed to such high levels of antibiotics, the hospital bacteria suddenly found themselves in an environment that had a high level of selection for antibiotic resistance, and thus resistance to multiple antibiotics formed within these hospital populations. When "S. aureus" came into contact with these populations, the multiple genes that code for antibiotic resistance to different drugs were then acquired by MRSA, making it nearly impossible to control. It is thought that MSSA acquired the resistance gene through the horizontal gene transfer, a method in which genetic information can be passed within a generation, and spread rapidly through its own population as was illustrated in multiple studies. Horizontal gene transfer speeds the process of genetic transfer since there is no need to wait an entire generation time for gene to be passed on. Since most antibiotics do not work on MRSA, physicians have to turn to alternative methods based in Darwinian medicine. However prevention is the most preferred method of avoiding antibiotic resistance. By reducing unnecessary antibiotic use in human and animal populations, antibiotics resistance can be slowed.

Recovery from an anaerobic infection depends on adequate and rapid management. The main principles of managing anaerobic infections are neutralizing the toxins produced by anaerobic bacteria, preventing the local proliferation of these organisms by altering the environment and preventing their dissemination and spread to healthy tissues.

Toxin can be neutralized by specific antitoxins, mainly in infections caused by Clostridia (tetanus and botulism). Controlling the environment can be attained by draining the pus, surgical debriding of necrotic tissue, improving blood circulation, alleviating any obstruction and by improving tissue oxygenation. Therapy with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) may also be useful. The main goal of antimicrobials is in restricting the local and systemic spread of the microorganisms.

The available parenteral antimicrobials for most infections are metronidazole, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, cefoxitin, a penicillin (i.e. ticarcillin, ampicillin, piperacillin) and a beta-lactamase inhibitor (i.e. clavulanic acid, sulbactam, tazobactam), and a carbapenem (imipenem, meropenem, doripenem, ertapenem). An antimicrobial effective against Gram-negative enteric bacilli (i.e. aminoglycoside) or an anti-pseudomonal cephalosporin (i.e. cefepime ) are generally added to metronidazole, and occasionally cefoxitin when treating intra-abdominal infections to provide coverage for these organisms. Clindamycin should not be used as a single agent as empiric therapy for abdominal infections. Penicillin can be added to metronidazole in treating of intracranial, pulmonary and dental infections to provide coverage against microaerophilic streptococci, and Actinomyces.

Oral agents adequate for polymicrobial oral infections include the combinations of amoxicillin plus clavulanate, clindamycin and metronidazole plus a macrolide. Penicillin can be added to metronidazole in the treating dental and intracranial infections to cover "Actinomyces" spp., microaerophilic streptococci, and "Arachnia" spp. A macrolide can be added to metronidazole in treating upper respiratory infections to cover "S. aureus" and aerobic streptococci. Penicillin can be added to clindamycin to supplement its coverage against "Peptostreptococcus" spp. and other Gram-positive anaerobic organisms.

Doxycycline is added to most regimens in the treatment of pelvic infections to cover chlamydia and mycoplasma. Penicillin is effective for bacteremia caused by non-beta lactamase producing bacteria. However, other agents should be used for the therapy of bacteremia caused by beta-lactamase producing bacteria.

Because the length of therapy for anaerobic infections is generally longer than for infections due to aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria, oral therapy is often substituted for parenteral treatment. The agents available for oral therapy are limited and include amoxacillin plus clavulanate, clindamycin, chloramphenicol and metronidazole.

In 2010 the American Surgical Society and American Society of Infectious Diseases have updated their guidelines for the treatment of abdominal infections.

The recommendations suggest the following:

For mild-to-moderate community-acquired infections in adults, the agents recommended for empiric regimens are: ticarcillin- clavulanate, cefoxitin, ertapenem, moxifloxacin, or tigecycline as single-agent therapy or combinations of metronidazole with cefazolin, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, levofloxacin, or ciprofloxacin. Agents no longer recommended are: cefotetan and clindamycin ( Bacteroides fragilis group resistance) and ampicillin-sulbactam (E. coli resistance) and ainoglycosides (toxicity).

For high risk community-acquired infections in adults, the agents recommended for empiric regimens are: meropenem, imipenem-cilastatin, doripenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin in combination with metronidazole, or ceftazidime or cefepime in combination with metronidazole. Quinolones should not be used unless hospital surveys indicate >90% susceptibility of "E. coli" to quinolones.

Aztreonam plus metronidazole is an alternative, but addition of an agent effective against gram-positive cocci is recommended. The routine use of an aminoglycoside or another second agent effective against gram-negative facultative and aerobic bacilli is not recommended in the absence of evidence that the infection is caused by resistant organisms that require such therapy.

Empiric use of agents effective against enterococci is recommended and agents effective against methicillin-resistant "S. aureus" (MRSA) or yeast is not recommended in the absence of evidence of infection due to such organisms.

Empiric antibiotic therapy for health care-associated intra-abdominal should be driven by local microbiologic results. Empiric coverage of likely pathogens may require multidrug regimens that include agents with expanded spectra of activity against gram-negative aerobic and facultative bacilli. These include meropenem, imipenem-cilastatin, doripenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, or ceftazidime or cefepime in combination with metronidazole. Aminoglycosides or colistin may be required.

Antimicrobial regimens for children include an aminoglycoside-based regimen, a carbapenem (imipenem, meropenem, or ertapenem), a beta-lactam/beta-lactamase-inhibitor combination (piperacillin-tazobactam or ticarcillin-clavulanate), or an advanced-generation cephalosporin (cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, or cefepime) with metronidazole.

Clinical judgment, personal experience, safety and patient compliance should direct the physician in the choice of the appropriate antimicrobial agents. The length of therapy generally ranges between 2 and 4 weeks, but should be individualized depending on the response. In some instances treatment may be required for as long as 6–8 weeks, but can often be shortened with proper surgical drainage.

The World Health Organization concluded that inappropriate use of antibiotics in animal husbandry is an underlying contributor to the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant germs, and that the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal feeds should be restricted. The World Organisation for Animal Health has added to the Terrestrial Animal Health Code a series of guidelines with recommendations to its members for the creation and harmonization of national antimicrobial resistance surveillance and monitoring programs, monitoring of the quantities of antibiotics used in animal husbandry, and recommendations to ensure the proper and prudent use of antibiotic substances. Another guideline is to implement methodologies that help to establish associated risk factors and assess the risk of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic stewardship programmes appear useful in reducing rates of antibiotic resistance.

Excessive antibiotic use has become one of the top contributors to the development of antibiotic resistance. Since the beginning of the antibiotic era, antibiotics have been used to treat a wide range of disease. Overuse of antibiotics has become the primary cause of rising levels of antibiotic resistance. The main problem is that doctors are willing to prescribe antibiotics to ill-informed individuals who believe that antibiotics can cure nearly all illnesses, including viral infections like the common cold. In an analysis of drug prescriptions, 36% of individuals with a cold or an upper respiratory infection (both viral in origin) were given prescriptions for antibiotics. These prescriptions accomplished nothing other than increasing the risk of further evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes Far East scarlet-like fever in humans, who occasionally get infected zoonotically, most often through the food-borne route. Animals are also infected by "Y. pseudotuberculosis". The bacterium is urease positive.