Toward Ecosophy

I remember a study done on E Coli within some cattle's guts where they stopped feeding antibiotics to cows. After a short period of time, the E Coli in the guts of cattle were no longer antibiotic-resistant. It was posited that antibiotic resistance has a cost associated with it that, in an environment without said antibiotics, leads to them either losing their resistance (whether by shucking off the plasmid responsible or by mutation) or dying out to non-resistant strains.

I've also seen this with people infected with MRSA – after a while the MRSA disappears, replaced by less dangerous strains of the bacteria.

So I'd say it appears that antibiotic resistance can disappear quickly in their absence.

– Don Hargraves