Antimicrobial Resistance
Throughout the past five decades the misuse of antibiotics for animals and individuals has evolved into antimicrobial resistance making it more difficult to kill infectious organisms (FDA, 2014).The overpopulated and over medicated farms degrades our public health and contributes to our illnesses. Consequently, the steady stream of low dose antibiotics has created superbugs creating a resistance to the antibiotics (Prince, 2015).
Antibiotics were created as a therapeutic tool to control a variety of bacterial infectious diseases for humans and animals (FDA, 2014). However, farmers began to see a growth production in their herds when they administered a low dose continuous stream creating more money for their pockets. Unfortunately, many farmers and companies have adopted this behavior, where currently only 20% of animals being treated with antibiotics are actually sick (Prince, 2015). These animals are being raised in in extremely tight feedlots living in fecal matter, along with poultry surviving in beak to feather conditions (Prince, 2015). Subsequently, these unhygienic quarters with low dose antibiotics are building superbugs that are provoking a public health crisis.
…show more content…
The resistant bacteria in animal may expand disease or infection from the contaminated products to humans, or from food handlers and food processors from handling bad meat following resistant bacteria genes to other bacteria, and ending with disease and infection in humans (MSU, 2011). Additionally, the growth also occurs with resistant bacteria from infected animals to non infected animals, through soil, well water, and water runoff from contaminated animal waste to fruits and vegetables or aquatic water eventually to humans (MSU,