Information about http://www.beyondfactoryfarming.org/documents/Antibiotics_ILOs.pdf
…
Tags: 19th century, antibiotic resistance, antibiotic use, bacteria, c difficile disease, chronic conditions, clostridium, discovery of antibiotics, fact sheet, factories, food poisoning, growth promoters, infected wounds, medical benefits, pneumonia, powerful tools, public health issue, resistant pathogens, s system, worst case,Pages: 2
Language: english
Created: Thu Apr 26 16:27:12 2007
Display cached document
Page 1
Page 2
Fact Sheet:
Antibiotic Resistance
Factories
A
ntibiotics are one of the most powerful tools in modern People who eat contaminated meat get sick with food poisoning,
medicine. Prior to the discovery of antibiotics many and create an opportunity for antibiotic resistant pathogens to
people died from infections and diseases caused by pass resistance on to other bacteria in the person's system.
bacteria, or lived with chronic conditions and disabilities that are
now curable. The medical benefits of antibiotics have been so Antibiotic Resistance a Public Health Issue
fully accepted that we tend to take them for granted. However, if When people become infected with antibiotic resistant
antibiotics are used irresponsibly, the pathogens they kill will pathogens it is much more difficult to treat their illness. In
evolve resistance, making the drugs useless. The worst-case October 2006 antibiotic resistant Clostridium difficile, a
scenario is a return to the 19th century, where people frequently sometimes fatal intestinal disease, was found in people who had
suffered and died as a result of infected wounds and diseases not been in the hospital3. C. difficile was thought to be acquired
such as pneumonia. only in hospitals, where antibiotic use is rife. But increasingly
C. difficile disease in being found in people who haven't been
Antibiotics used as Growth Promoters in Canada hospitalized. So how did they contract the bug? Contaminated
Antibiotics (also known as antimicrobials) are used in agriculture food is suspected. An Ontario Veterinary College study shows
as well as in medicine. Some are used to treat sick animals, but that the same strain of C. difficile that has caused severe hospital
the vast majority of livestock antibiotics are used in factory outbreaks has been found in the feces of dairy calves in Ontario.
farms as a feed additive to promote growth and prevent
disease1. Animals living in the crowded stressful conditions of Links between "human" and "animal" antibiotics
industrial livestock operations grow faster if given low doses of The rise of antibiotic resistance due to excessive use of antibiotics
antibiotics, but in less crowded conditions antibiotics do not affect in livestock production is a serious public health problem
growth rate. This indicates that feeding antibiotics is to recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). In 1997
compensate for unhealthy living conditions of the barns. As much WHO recommended that antibiotics in livestock production be
as 90% of the antibiotics used in livestock production in Canada strictly regulated by governments, that the use of antibiotics as
are used as growth promoters2. growth promotants be replaced with alternatives, and that the
use of any antimicrobial for growth promotion be terminated
Factory farm conditions are ideal for creating antibiotic if it is also used in human medicine or is known to select for
resistant bacteria. When low levels of antibiotics are used cross-resistance to medical antimicrobial drugs.
routinely, susceptible germs die off quickly, leaving those resistant
to the drug to reproduce and multiply. Different kinds of bacteria The Canadian government's own advisory committee stated that
can trade genes, so resistance conferred in the factory farm "Even resistance in animal bacteria that are harmless to humans
environment can be passed on to other bacteria in soil and water is important to public health because these bacteria are a pool
that is in contact with manure. Antibiotic resistant organisms are of resistance genes available to be transferred from animal
also found on meat that has been contaminated with fecal material. bacteria to human pathogens4."
Antibiotics Production Pets Community
in animal of animal
feeds feeds
Meat
products
Selection of Feces/ Irrigation of
antibiotic-resistant Surface vegetable
manure/ Hospitals
bacteria in animals water crops Humans
sewage
The agricultural use of antibiotics in animal feed can result in the selection and transmission of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria.These bacteria move through the environment by a variety of routes, and their presence ultimately has
consequences for human health. - Canadian Medical Association Journal, Nov. 1998, p.1130
Beyond Factory Farming Coalition Fact Sheet #3 - Antibiotic Resistance Factories - April 2007
It is not enough to stop feeding livestock antibiotics used antibiotics can be eliminated without losing production capacity8.
for human medicine. Feeding animals drugs not used in humans
can increase resistance to drugs important in human medicine if Resisting antibiotic resistance
the antibiotic resistance traits are genetically linked. The linkage Canadian consumers can avoid meat contaminated by antibiotic
of two or more resistance genes on DNA strands bacteria resistant bacteria by seeking out certified organic meat. Organic
normally trade with each other is an increasing concern. certification does not permit the use of antibiotics. Organic
Understanding this process makes it less justifiable to seperate farmers may use antibiotics to treat sick animals, but the animal
antibiotics into "animal" and "human" use categories when cannot be sold as certified organic.
considering antimicrobial resistance issues.5
Consumer demand for certified organic meat, and meat
Canadian response inadequate purchased directly from local farmers where it is possible to
Canada has not eliminated antibiotic use in livestock production. verify antibiotic use is helpful. However effective monitoring
In 2002 the federal goverment finally started a surveillance and surveillance and strict regulations combined with the
program, the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial capacity and will to enforce them are required to deal with
Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS)6. the public health issue that affects all Canadians whether or
not they purchase or eat meat. The alternative is to lose
The CIPARS 2004 surveillance showed that antibiotics as a medical tool. BFF
! Generic E. coli samples showed resistance to one or
more antimicrobials in 80% of swine, 78% of chicken, - Fact Sheet author Cathy Holtslander works for the Beyond Factory
and 31% of cattle isolates. Farming Coalition.
! For Salmonella, 63% of all chicken isolates were
resistant to one or more antimicrobials. References:
1
! For Campylobacter isolates from chicken, 53% from "Agricultural use of antibiotics and the evolution and transfer of
Ontario and 81% from Québec were resistant to one or antibiotic-resistant bacteria", George G. Khachatourians, BA, MA,
PhD, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Nov. 3, 1998
more antimicrobials. 2
ibid.
! For Enterococcus isolates from chicken, 98% from 3
Link probed between eating meat, C. difficile, CTV, Wed. Oct. 4
Ontario and 94% from Québec were resistant to one or 2004
more antimicrobials. 4
Report of the Advisory Committee to Health Canada on Animal Uses
of Antimicrobials and Impact on Resistance and Human Health, June
Clearly the use of antibiotics in livestock is creating antibiotic 2002
5
resistance and contaminating Canadian factory farmed meat. Antibiotic resistance: synthesis of recommendations by expert policy
groups by Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, JL Avorn, JF
In January 2007 Canada'sVeterinary Drugs Directorate asked Barrett, PG Davey, SA McEwen, TF O'Brien and SB Levy. Boston,
MA, United States of America.
livestock producers and veterinarians to check how effective 6
Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance
antibiotics are as growth promoters, and to stop using them if Surveillance (CIPARS) http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cipars-picra/
they are not providing an economic return7. This baby step in 2004_e.html
the right direction is far less than what is required. The European 7
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/vet/antimicrob/agp_hc_vdd_e.html
Union banned the use of subtherapeutic antibiotics as of January 8
Antibiotic ban cuts drug resistant bugs, Debora MacKenzie,
1, 2006. In 1999 Denmark banned them, and significantly New Scientist 17:19 13 August 2003
reduced levels of antibiotic resistance while demonstrating that
Organizations working on antibiotic resistance and factory farming issues:
Keep Antibiotics Working Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) Center for a Liveable Future
P.O. Box 14590, 75 Kneeland Street Johns Hopkins University
Chicago, IL 60614 USA Boston, MA 02111-1901 USA 615 N Wolfe St. E2150
Baltimore, MD 21205
Telephone: 773-525-4952 Telephone: 617-636-0966
Web: www.keepantibioticsworking.com Email: apua@tufts.edu Telephone: 410-502-7578
Web: www.tufts.edu/med/apua/ Email:: clf@jhsph.edu
Web: www.jhsph.edu/clf/
Beyond Factory Farming Coalition Local contact information:
#501-230 22nd Street East
Saskatoon, SK S7K 0E9
Phone: (306) 955-6454
Toll free: 1-877-955-6454
Fax (306) 955-6455
Email: info@beyondfactoryfarming.org
Web: www.beyondfactoryfarming.org