Factory Farmed Animals Hog All The Antibiotics
70% of the antibiotics produced in the US go to animals that are not sick. Amassed together in small spaces, diseases can flourish and rapidly spread to all of the confined animals so the purveyors of Concentrated Animal Feed Operations (CAFOs) use them as a preventative measure, but also to stimulate growth. Both practices are almost exclusively done without veterinary prescriptions. In fact, the premature use of antibiotics is so common that they are frequently included in the regular ingredients of their feed. Surprisingly, it’s all very legal!
And, it’s becoming a health crisis. It is common knowledge that the overuse of antibiotics in humans can lead to antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. With over a decade of scientific studies it is clear that the overuse of antibiotics in food animals is contributing to the creation of antibiotic resistant strains and severely reducing the ability of today’s drugs to treat animals and humans alike who are actually sick.
Many people have heard of MRSA–methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to as “flesh eating” bacteria–which is a strain of staph that’s resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics once used to treat it. MRSA infections have skyrocketed in the last five years, in both human-to-human transmission, as well as in animal-to-human transmission, but it’s just the tip of the infectious disease iceberg. Other bacterias–such as salmonella and campylobacter, two common food borne disease pathogens–have also become resistant to antibiotics, as have a host of other bacteria (and antibiotic resistant tuberculosis is now prevalent in urban areas, and virulent strains of bacterial pneumonia are on the uptick, too).
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter and 43 co-sponsors are hoping to put through the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA). The legislation bans seven classes of antibiotics important to human health from being used in animals. Other antibiotics would be restricted to therapeutic and some preventative uses under the supervision of a veterinarian.
PAMPTA is applauded by more than 300 organizations representing health, consumer, agricultural, and environmental interests, including the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association. Importantly, the Obama administration has also voiced its support.
Mike, the Mad Biologist featured at ScienceBlogs, summarizes why the bill would actually be useful in the fight against antibiotic resistance:
- It covers all classes of antibiotics; there are no exempt classes of drugs.
- The definition of “non-therapeutic use” is very strict–it rules out prophylaxis (preventative use). Antibiotics can only be used to treat sick animals.
- Non-therapeutic use will be eliminated after two years for all drugs, unless manufacturers can show that non-therapeutic useful is not harmful. This is critical, particularly for off-patent drugs. Companies that make generics typically don’t have the profit margins to fight for non-therapeutic use. Since antibiotic resistance mechanisms are often genetically or biochemical linked, reducing the use of these generic drugs will remove a strong selection for more potent resistance genes.
Of course, farmer groups and organizations like the National Pork Association have come out against it with the familiar battle cry that there is no evidence:
“There are no good studies that show that some of these antibiotic-resistant diseases — and it seems like we’re seeing more of them — have any link to antibiotic use in food-animal production,” said Dave Warner, a spokesman for the pork producers’ group.
I wonder, does the NPA’s definition of ‘good’ mean ‘in favor of our lobby’?
If this bill does manage to pass despite opposition from powerful farm lobbies, it be the death knell for factory farming as we know it today. I caution to say that it would end factory farming in its entirety because those guys are devilishly crafty when it comes to getting what they want.
Still, you can support the bill and tell your congress-person to do so as well–it’s only a click away.
July 15, 2009
Tags: agriculture, bacon, Barack Obama, change, farmers, food safety, Health, heroes, policy Posted in: Health, Politics, Science & Technology
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