We definitely need to do more research on the role of the environment in the spread of resistance genes. E. coli is truly a good sentinel bacterium. It's everywhere, in humans, animals and the environment.
We have very little data on the role of the environment and the impact of new climatic events attributable to global warming on the spread of genes within microbial populations, either within or outside hosts. We really need to do a lot more research at this point.
Environmental aspects should indeed be added to surveillance programs. Currently, environmental samples aren't being studied, either in Canada or in most surveillance programs around the world.