Last month, more research surfaced that heavy antibiotic use at industrial animal operations is contributing to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing illness and death in humans.
Researchers from the University of Iowa found the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas (MRSA) in 70 percent of pigs tested on 10 Iowa and Illinois hog farms. The research also found the identical staph strain in about 40 percent of people who work on the farms, suggesting the transmission of the strain from pigs to farmworkers and possibly the wider community. This new research is consistent with a study we wrote about last year, which found MRSA present in 45 percent of pig farms tested in Ontario.
IATP's David Wallinga, M.D. and the Union of Concerned Scientists' Margaret Mellon co-authored a piece appearing in the Baltimore Sun earlier this week that puts the new research in context: "The miracle drugs of the 20th century are under threat. Doctors are frustrated by rising numbers of illnesses resistant to their arsenal of antibiotics. When these medicines don't work, patients suffer or even die, and our nation's health tab ratchets upward."
IATP and UCS are part of the Keep Antibiotics Working Coalition, which has been pushing to stop the inappopropriate use of antibiotics in raising food animals. Wallinga and Mellon write, "Over the past five years, the FDA has consistently neglected taking the difficult steps to address the problem of antibiotic resistance for the long-term benefit of human health." Congress also has failed to act. This week, the House failed to include public health provisions in the mark-up of the Animal Drug User Fee Act.
Like the MRSA turning up on industrial hog farms, Congress and government agencies seem to have developed their own resistant traits - in this case to the growing scientific evidence on the public health risks of heavy animal antibiotic use.
