It’s emerging that a huge portion of antibiotics are increasingly ending up in agricultural uses.
Factory farms in particular, or concentrated animal feeding operations, are intensely feeding animals with antibiotics to prevent or treat diseases. This has triggered a rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria.
When these bacteria get to human beings through the food chain, they can cause deadly antibiotic-resistant diseases.
Shockingly, it is estimated that agriculture accounts for around 73 percent of all medically significant antibiotics consumed worldwide. Instead of being used for treatment purposes, these antibiotics are largely utilized to curb infections and increase yields in concentrated animal feeding operations.
According to analysts, this trend is projected to continue until 2030, potentially resulting in a surge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and subsequent disease outbreaks.
This excessive use of antibiotics in factory farms is directly contributing to the global escalation of antibiotic resistance, which is posing a significant threat to public health.
Let’s explore this concern.
What is factory farming?
Factory farming is the intensive, modern, industrial method of breeding and raising farm animals for food. The goal is to increase profits using as few resources as possible.
On factory farms, enormous quantities of animals are bundled in little spaces, which frequently implies keeping animals inside as long as necessary. Factory farming is an undeniably familiar method for raising animals for food, zeroing in on species like cows, pigs, chicken and fish. Other animals can likewise be utilized for non-food purposes, for example, minks cultivated for their fur.
How factory farms are fuelling the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
In factory farming operations, large numbers of animals are housed in confined spaces, which can lead to the spread of disease. To prevent outbreaks, antibiotics are routinely administered to the animals, often at subtherapeutic doses.
The problem with this approach is that it creates an environment in which bacteria can evolve and develop resistance to antibiotics. When antibiotics are used in this way, they kill off the weaker bacteria, leaving the stronger, resistant bacteria to multiply and spread.
The resistant bacteria can then be transmitted to humans through various means, such as through contact with infected animals or through contaminated food and water. This can lead to serious health consequences, as infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are more difficult to treat and can be life-threatening.
The widespread use of antibiotics in factory farms can also lead to the contamination of the environment, including soil and water, with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This can further contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance.
The infections that antibiotic resistant bacteria cause are more difficult to treat than those brought about by non-resistant bacteria. For instance, Staphylococcus aureus and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are presently quite often impervious to benzyl penicillin.
The top antibiotics fed to animals in factory farms at the moment include:
- Tetracyclines
- Penicillin
- Amphenicols
- Cephalosporins
- Sulfonamides
The top factory farmed food in the United States include:
- Chicken
- Eggs
- Beef
- Milk
- Pork
The major brands in this sector include companies like Mcdonalds, Smithfields Foods and Tysons Foods.
How antibiotic-resistant bacteria infiltrate the food chain, starting in factory farms
One of the primary ways is through the consumption of animal products that have been contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Many of the suppliers of products like beef to the big brands like McDonalds and Walmart indeed source their foods from factory farms that are heavy on antibiotics use. The overuse of highest priority critically important antibiotics (HP-CIAs) in factory farms poses the greatest risk. According to the World Health Organization, the overuse of these antibiotics renders them less effective in treatment of human illnesses.
As earlier indicated, the antibiotics given to animals in factory farms can lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the animals’ guts. These resistant bacteria can then be shed in the animals’ feces and can contaminate the meat and other animal products that are produced on the farm.
Contaminated meat, for example, can then be distributed to grocery stores and restaurants, where it can be consumed by humans. This can lead to the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to people who eat the contaminated meat or handle it during preparation.
In addition to contaminated meat, the bacteria can also be transmitted through the environment. Animal waste from factory farms can contaminate nearby water sources, soil, and crops, which can lead to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria throughout the food chain.
On the other hand, farm workers like veterinarians, ranchers, abattoir laborers, and food controllers who are exposed to antibiotic-resistant bacteria on factory farms can also act as carriers, spreading the bacteria to other people they come into contact with.
Various reports have depicted the presence of huge amounts of antibiotic resistant bacteria in different food items (prepared to eat meat, cooked meat and mass milk) from different animal sources, like dairy cattle, poultry, pig, goat, sheep, and from various phases of food production.
In the US, some variants of bacterial diseases are already causing havoc, and antibiotic resistance is playing a huge role here. Back in 2016, the owners of a pork farm blocked investigators who wanted to find out what triggered a salmonella infection that affected over 200 people.
Some of the diseases that antibiotic resistant bacteria can cause include:
- Abscesses (boils), mostly caused by staphylococcus aureus
- Pneumococcal disease, caused by streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria
- Urinary Tract Infections (UTI), mostly caused by enterobacter species
- Tuberculosis, caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis
- Life-threatening diarrhea, caused by clostridium difficile
A recent report by the Sentience Institute, a sociology think tank, found that 99% of cultivated animals in the United States live on huge factory farms. As this business combines into progressively bigger activities, little and medium-sized farms’ portion of horticultural creation is declining.
All these trends point to a future where the world may eventually depend almost entirely on factory farms especially for animal products. Coupled with the intense use of antibiotics, this can easily spell a grave threat not only to animal welfare but also to human health. The close confinement of animals in these facilities creates a breeding ground for infectious diseases, increasing the likelihood of the emergence of zoonotic diseases that can be transmitted to humans.
In addition to the risk of zoonotic diseases and antibiotic resistance, the environmental impact of factory farming cannot be ignored. The concentration of large numbers of animals in a single location generates vast amounts of waste, which can pollute waterways and harm local ecosystems. The intensive use of natural resources such as water, land, and energy also contributes to environmental degradation.
The trend towards larger and more centralized animal operations is not just a problem in the United States but is a global issue. As the demand for animal products continues to increase, the pressure to produce more food at lower costs will only grow.