Human resistance to antibiotics is one of the biggest threats to global health according to the World Health Organization, and the medicine’s misuse in farmed animals is accelerating the problem.
Credit: Andrew
Skowron
The controversial and dangerous use of antibiotics in farmed animals is
estimated to increase by 8 percent within the next decade, despite the
world’s leading health organizations repeatedly warning of its severe risk
to human health.
Farmed animals are routinely fed drugs and antibiotics to speed up their
growth and to help keep them alive on farms as part of the global animal
agriculture industry.
But the practice of farms using antibiotics is said to risk creating a
potentially-devastating human resistance to antibiotics. The United Nations
(UN) have repeatedly warned that antibiotic-resistant bacteria is already
increasing: at least 700,000 people die every year from drug-resistant
diseases, and the UN says that number could increase to 10 million deaths
annually by 2050 if no action is taken.
Credit: Andrew
Skowron
Currently antibiotics are used in humans to help treat life-threatening
diseases and illnesses like pneumonia, tuberculosis, and gonorrhea, but this
medicine could risk losing its effectiveness entirely if our resistance
continues to grow.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says antibiotic resistance is one of the
biggest threats to global health, and that the misuse of antibiotics in
humans and animals is accelerating the process.
Despite these warnings, antibiotic usage in animal agriculture is actually
predicted to increase according to the results of a new study.
Published this month in the journal PLOS Global Public Health, the research
shows that global antimicrobial usage on animal farms was estimated at
99,502 tons in 2020, which is now predicted to increase by 8 percent to
107,472 tons by 2030.
More Meat, More Animals, More Antibiotics
So what’s driving the increase? The global demand for meat products has led
to a rise in the number of farmed animals around the world. This has
resulted in a dramatic increase of industrial-scale factory farms, where
hundreds or even thousands of animals are crowded together, often in unclean
and unsanitary living conditions. Antibiotics to help kill parasites and
speed the animal’s growth are used throughout the animal agriculture
industry, but particularly in factory farms where the animals are more
likely to develop serious health problems.
Credit: Andrew
Skowron
The new findings show that China, Brazil, India, United States, and
Australia are the top five countries for the highest use of antibiotics in
farmed animals.
As well as the threat of antibiotic resistance, the use of drugs in farmed
animals is also criticized for its link with cancer. Drugs like carbadox
continue to be used in the industry, despite being noted for its
carcinogenic properties and the potential for residues of the drug to remain
in meat.
What we eat matters. The US is the world’s largest producer of beef, chicken
meat and cow’s milk, and the second largest producer of pork.
Return to Food Hazards in Animal Flesh and By-products
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