News
Biofilm in water can lead to AMR
January in Co Wexford. Pruex got some fantastic feedback from the visitors at an open day.
In the video below, Pruex demonstrate how they achieve clean air and water which really does reduce the threat of AMR
The importance of water quality when striving for healthy animals
Aled, Paula and Ashley visit a dairy farm in Zimbabwe where calf scour and mastitis are an issue.
Travelling scientist to help reduce agricultural pollution
Wales is at the forefront of innovation that can help agriculture be the solution to many environmental pollution issues. Pruex have pioneered research that's now enabling farmers to use bacteria that originate in soil to compete against bad bacteria in animal waste. The bad bacteria and enzymes in faeces and urine can cause animal sickness via infections and/or aid in the process of rotting manure which releases toxic greenhouse gasses like nitrous oxide and methane as well as toxic ammonia gas to the air the animals breathe. These pollutive gasses are harmful to the wider environment.
Pruex help farmers keep their animals healthy by providing good bacteria that can compete for resources with faecal bacteria and thus reduce the health risk to animals and the environment. Less ammonia, less nitrous oxide, less methane.
Keeping soil and all the microflora that it contains healthy requires domination of aerobic conditions. Pruex strive to ensure muck and slurry from farms remain aerobic so as not to poison the land when farm waste is applied. This strategy helps plants develop deep roots helping the soil retain water, and reduces run off of polluting minerals like phosphorus and nitrogen.
Pruex improve the environment in which farm animals are kept. This changes their waste from problematic for soil and plants to synergistic. As a result, plants are healthier, soil becomes more fertile and a home for more biodiversity, and there is less drought or flood risk. The health of our rivers and waterways depend on healthy soil. The plants which feed the animals have deeper roots that can access more trace elements and minerals. There simply is no better example of a natural circular economy.
Our research continues. Please work with us to help us achieve our aims of leading the fight against antimicrobial resistance and environmental pollution.
Highly contagious superbug is resistant to antibiotics and hitting UK
Find out more about the superbug that's resistant to antibiotics hitting the UK
Superbug killing people in the UK - Article
Friday, November 22, 2024 11.30am Hall 1B, ACC Liverpool, Federation of Infection Societies Conference. A landmark moment, where professor Elisabetta Caselli of the University of Ferrara and Aled Rhys Davies of Pruex will present Bacterial detergents to the NHS as a means of fighting back against superbugs. The technology is used in hospitals in Europe and in addition to reducing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), in wards it reduces the number of infections acquired by patients whilst in those hospitals and in addition, saves the hospital management large sums of money.
Environment, Circular Economy, Sustainability and good farming practice.
Pruex work in the Uk, the EU and Africa helping farmers keep animals healthy and contribute beneficially to the environment. Healthy animals, lead to healthy muck and healthy soils. Healthy animals don't need antibiotics. Healthy aerobic muck and slurry ensure better air quality with reductions in volatilisation of ammonia and methane, and denitrification of toxic nitrous oxide. Healthy soil is also vital for healthy rivers and oceans, and is key in our strategy to capture carbon from the atmosphere.This strategy ensures healthy plants and soil biodiversity which are vital to the survival of small birds and mammals.
Pruex help farmers produce food and other products in both sustainable and environmentally beneficial ways, replacing heavy pollutive chemicals with natural bacteria which originate from soil and water. Pruex add more nature into the farms by means of substituting chemicals with biological products. Modern chemistry knowledge has resulted in our environment being bombarded by man made chemistry, but Pruex is changing this scenario. Pruex use bacterial detergents, products containing good bacteria that keep animal muck and soils aerobic, full of oxygen and life. This helps plants develop deep roots which improves the soil so that it can hold more water, nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon and oxygen. This prevents the soil from becoming too acidic and from releasing toxic nitrous oxide and ammonia. Reducing nitrogen and phosphorous leaching to the river is key to the health of all waterways. Sustainability and the circular economy were the norm for many of our grandparents in Europe. With technological advancement, and a drive towards a linear economy, we've unintentionally polluted our air, rivers, oceans and soils. Pruex is helping small, medium and large farmers to rebuild sustainable industries based on the circular economy.
Biology has the answer to our environmental pollution issues and oxygen is really important. We have to keep animal muck aerobic, soil aerobic, and our waterways aerobic if we want to ensure agriculture doesn't pollute the air, soil or water, and continues to thrive as an industry in an environmentally beneficial manner. Pruex has the expertise that enables farmers to achieve aerobic excellence in their guardianship of soil.
In 2015, Aled Rhys Davies, our founder, set out on a two year international travel scholarship awarded by the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust. He studied antibiotic use in agriculture in Europe, Oceana, and Northern America. He realised that the use of chemicals in agriculture led to sick animals, sick waterways and soils. He realised that the issues of algae blooms in rivers and oceans, greenhouse gas and ammonia release from muck, slurry and human sludge, and the high velocity of increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), were all linked. The answer to all of these issues relies on keeping animal (including human), muck, waterways and soils aerobic. He founded Pruex in 2016 with the aim of leading the fight against AMR and environmental pollution. Eight years later, Pruex has developed internationally with operations in the EU and Africa. If you would like to know more about the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust, which inspired Aled to take action and incorporate Pruex then visit https://www.nuffieldscholar.org/
AMR - don’t forget about fungi
Pruex utilizes beneficial bacteria to capture moisture from animal bedding and their surroundings, creating an environment where harmful microorganisms, including fungi, struggle to thrive.
Anger as bacteria found at river swimming site
Jack Grey of BBC news reports that:
Elevated levels of harmful bacteria have been found at Wales’ first official river bathing site, warn public health officials.
Wild swimmers have been advised to stay out of the River Wye at The Warren, a pebble beach near Hay-on-Wye, Powys, after high levels of E.coli and intestinal enterococci bacteria were found. These two bacteria are tested for because they are markers of the presence of sewage.
See Full article using this link https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4ng45v5qx2o
Pruex can reduce environmental pollution from Human, Agricultural and Non Food animal sectors.
The owners originally intended to use this pond for wild swimming, but it became contaminated with E. coli and enterococci. After implementing a Pruex protocol, the water is now safe for swimming, with non-infective, harmless bacteria dominating the ecosystem.
Algae blooms present another water quality issue. Reactive minerals like nitrogen and phosphorus leach into the water, fuelling rapid algae growth that depletes oxygen levels. When the algae die, they release toxins, further exacerbating the problem. Pruex protocols, significantly reduce the risk of algae blooms.
Agriculture holds the solution. Farmers partnering with Pruex keep their animals healthy by reducing toxic gases in both livestock and wildlife environments. The minerals in the manure applied to the land are absorbed by plants, preventing them from leaching into waterways and fuelling algae blooms.
Pruex aims to lead the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance and environmental pollution. Please help us.
Why is the environmental impact of Pruex so important in the fight against AMR?
Resistant bacteria or antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from human sludge, slurry, muck, and landfill are polluting our waterways, contaminating our land, and infecting our wildlife. As resistant bacteria increasingly dominate wildlife and their environments, the rate at which they spread and become more prevalent accelerates.
The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom have just highlighted some research illustrating the scale of the current problem.
Pruex has the answer:
We can alter the bacterial composition of human sludge, slurry, and muck to contain non-infective types. Our work in agriculture, as well as in human and non-food animal markets, helps reduce pollution from gases and reactive mineral leaching into waterways. By shifting the bacterial makeup of faecal waste products from being dominated by pathogenic, pollutive, and resistant bacteria to non-infective strains, we can keep animals healthy, minimise pollution, and slow the progression of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Pruex aims to lead the fight against AMR and environmental pollution. Please help us.
A collaboration seen as a major step forward in the fight against Anti Microbial Resistance (AMR).
Background - Antibiotics are of utmost importance in the medical professions armoury against pathogenic infections, but each time they’re used in an attempt to kill infective bacteria we take a risk. Within a bacterial colony often there are ones that differ genetically from the rest. These carry resistant genes that prevent the antibiotics we use from killing them. If we kill the majority of susceptible bacteria but not the resistant ones, we make space for these resistant bacteria to become dominant. In other words, the antibiotic will no longer work against these resistant infective bacteria. This is also the case with disinfectant and antiseptic products. It seems, the more we clean with disinfectant, or the more we treat infections with antibiotics and antiseptic, the more dangerous the resistant bacteria can become. Bacteria build nests called biofilm on surfaces to protect themselves, for example, plaque on our teeth. When biofilms form, the efficacy of disinfectant, antiseptic and antibiotic technology reduces significantly. Biofilm dominated by resistant bacteria is disastrous. We face therefore, a return to a pre antibiotic era where child birth, simple cuts or grazes, or stomach upsets could become fatal. We have to protect the antibiotics we have, ensuring their efficacy for as long as possible. We have a fight on our hands against resistant bacteria. We have a fight against AMR.
A major breakthrough in this fight is being worked on via a collaboration between Pruex Ltd from Carmarthenshire in Wales and Biowet Drwalew from Warsaw in Poland. Pruex, an innovative one health company, use detergents containing non infective bacteria to compete against infective ones in the environment and consistently demonstrate modulation of biofilm from being dominated by potentially pathogenic colonies of bacteria to non infective types. Biowet Drwalew manufacture antibiotics and have a long history and an established position in the market of veterinary medicinal products in Poland. Both organisations objectives align as they both want antibiotics to keep working for as long as possible without the threat of increasing AMR.
It’s known that biofilm on surfaces can contain resistant bacteria that can infect animals including humans. Biowet Drwalew manufacture antibiotics to World Health Organisation standards. Pruex products will be used to ensure the animals have clean water, a dry bed and clean air to breathe. By doing so, the aim is for the contents of the biofilm in the animal housing and water lines to change, increasing the dominance of non-infective bacteria and reducing the numbers of resistant bacteria. Reducing the number of resistant bacteria present will safeguard the use of antibiotics for future generations.
This work was presented by Aled Rhys Davies of Pruex on the 19th April at the prestigious 18th scientific buiatrics conference, specific and non-specific immunoprophylaxis of selected cattle diseases - new achievements and directions of development held at the Polish Buiatric Association, National Veterinary Institute, Puławy. His presentation caught the imagination of the attending veterinary delegation with the trade booth remaining busy over the two day event.
At the conference, Aled Rhys Davies, the founder of Pruex stated that “Nature often has the answer to our man made problems. Nature provides us with bacteria that can out compete the problematic resistant bacteria our medicines by default have encouraged. We have to be scientific in our approach so that we can harness such technology in the fight against AMR. We want to see antibiotic manufacturers continue to provide effective products and are excited that, along with the scientists and staff at Biowet Drwalew that we can conduct work to modulate the contents of biofilm in animal environments and water systems so that we can potentially enable antibiotics that currently are no longer effective to work once more. We have an opportunity to secure the future of prudent antibiotic use without the risk of building resistant bacterial biofilm”.
