Nicholas D. Kristof has an oped in the New York Times about antibiotic resistant bacteria that’s growth has been spurred by factory farming. A slice:

Microbes swap genes, so antibiotic resistance developed in pigs can jump to microbes that infect humans in hospitals, locker rooms, schools or homes. [...]

There’s broad agreement that doctors themselves overprescribe antibiotics — but also that a big part of the problem is factory farms. They feed low doses of antibiotics to hogs, cattle and poultry to make them grow faster.

A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that in the United States, 70 percent of antibiotics are used to feed healthy livestock, with 14 percent more used to treat sick livestock. Only about 16 percent are used to treat humans and their pets, the study found.

More antibiotics are fed to livestock in North Carolina alone than are given to humans in the entire United States, according to the peer-reviewed Medical Clinics of North America. It concluded that antibiotics in livestock feed were “a major component” in the rise of antibiotic resistance.

Go read the whole article here >>

And remember, if you purchase animal products that used nontherapeutic antibiotics (which is how the majority of animal products available for consumption in the US are produced), then you are funding this antibiotic resistant bacteria growth. Go vegan and help slow the spread of disease.

(Thanks to Mimi for the link)

Sections: Vegan News
Topics: antibiotic resistance, antibiotics, bacteria, disease, e coli, factory farming, human health, livestock, Medical Clinics of North America, mrsa, Nicholas D. Kristof, Union of Concerned Scientists