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Prescription for Disaster: Sub-therapeutic Antibiotic Use on Farm Animals

As factory farms have crammed more and more animals into tighter and tighter spaces, modern pharmaceuticals have become regular tools of the trade. By lacing animal feed with sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotics, producers are able to suppress disease that could otherwise flare up in dirty, crowded conditions. But this dangerous practice has hatched unintended consequences: more germs that are resistant to antibiotics!

According to the National Academy of Sciences, roughly 70 percent of the antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs used in the U.S. are fed to farm animals in order to promote growth and prevent rampant disease from striking where animals are kept in filthy, stressful environments. As a result, many common bacteria (such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and E. coli) have developed a resistance to these drugs. When these superbugs then infect humans, they become much more difficult to treat, and the consequences can be devastating. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), MRSA infections result in more than 18,000 human deaths every year in the U. S. For comparison, MRSA causes more deaths annually in the U.S. than AIDS does.

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Congress’ only microbiologist, introduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (H.R. 1549) to phase out the non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics on farm animals. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has introduced a companion bill in the Senate (S. 619). This new legislation would protect an essential resource in human medicine and, in addition, factory farm producers would no longer be allowed to rely on indiscriminate use of antibiotics to keep their animals alive, forcing them to invest just a little bit more in improving welfare.

You Can Help

In the fight against factory farm agriculture, this legislation represents an important step. Contact your legislators today and ask for their support. Send a quick and easy e-mail asking them to actively support H.R. 1549 and S. 619 by becoming co-sponsors and voting YES.

Remember to personalize your letter with your own words and experiences to make it more effective.