DAVID WALLINGA, MD, AND AVINASH KAR, NRDC, HEALTHY PEOPLE & THRIVING COMMUNITIES PROGRAM. Eili Klein, Center on Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy. NRDC HAS KINDLY ALLOWED US TO REPOST THIS ARTICLE FROM THE ORIGINAL ON THE NRDC BLOG.

Tragically, our nation’s response to COVID-19 shows what happens when public health isn’t protected, science and scientists are not trusted, and the nation’s preparedness is not prioritized.

For decades, U.S. policymakers have been aware of the rising threat from infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria (aka superbugs). Superbugs already infect more than 2.8 million people each year in the United States, contributing to between 35,000 and 162,000 deaths.

And yet the failure of these same policymakers to take meaningful action to protect the public continues (as noted in NRDC’s blog, To Protect the Future, Protect Antibiotics). In the absence of such action, the rates of illness and death could continue to rise, eventually generating economic impacts that on a global scale might look similar to what we now are seeing with COVID-19.

The antibiotic resistance crisis is driven in large part by ongoing antibiotic misuse and overuse. Unnecessary antibiotic use, whether in hospitals or pharmacies, on farms or feedlots, contributes to the proliferation and spread of resistant bacteria and genes. That’s why the tracking and reporting of antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use, wherever it occurs, is particularly important.

DAVID WALLINGA, MD, and Avinash Kar, NRDC, HEALTHY PEOPLE & THRIVING COMMUNITIES PROGRAM. NRDC has kindly allowed us to repost this article from the original on the NRDC blog.

Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released its annual report showing last year's sales of antibiotics important to human medicine for use in livestock production.

The news wasn't good. Sales are on the rise, thanks to the pig and cattle industries. And a new NRDC analysis using these figures shows the industries are not only buying more of these drugs, but using them more intensely.

In short, the report underscores that America's beef and pork companies must use these drugs more responsibly if we want to continue to rely on antibiotics for treating infections the way we have for decades.

Steve Roach, Food Safety Program Director, Food Animal Concerns Trust

In May and August of 2019, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the results of two national surveys of livestock producers conducted by the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) in 2017. Both looked at antimicrobial use and stewardship, one on U.S. cattle feedlots and the other on U.S. swine operations. USDA surveyed pig farms and cattle feedlots across the United States and gathered information on how they used antibiotics in feed, water, or by injection. Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) reviewed the data in the reports, filled in some gaps, and created a summary and analysis of the most interesting findings. You can read our summary here. Though the USDA reports have some serious limitations, they provide some very useful insights on how and why antibiotics are used on farm.

Here are some of the most important findings regarding antimicrobial use. More details are available in our summary and even more in the reports themselves.

MADELEINE KLEVEN , PROJECT ASSISTANT, FOOD SAFETY PROGRAM AT FOOD ANIMAL CONCERNS TRUST

 The spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, i.e. superbugs, threatens the health of both humans and animals globally. To combat the transmission of superbugs, significant reductions must be made in the amount of antibiotic used both in human medicine and agriculture. While antibiotics are essential in the treatment of serious bacterial infections in both humans and animals, their overuse exclusively benefits the superbugs. So what are the two biggest U.S. livestock sectors, chicken and beef, doing to reduce their antibiotic use?

THOMAS GREMILLION, DIRECTOR, FOOD POLICY INSTITUTE AT CONSUMER FEDERATION OF AMERICA

 Food safety has stayed in the headlines in 2018. Just in the past month, a sweeping alert on E. coli contamination in romaine lettuce has led to promises of significant change in the ways that leafy greens are labeled. An earlier outbreak linked to romaine prompted growers to revise safety standards by, for example, tripling the buffer zone between concentrated animal feeding operations (“CAFOs”) and leafy green crop fields. Other outbreaks, however, have failed to prod a similarly public response, raising the concern that history may soon repeat itself.

DAVID WALLINGA, MD, NRDC Senior Health Advisor, Healthy People & Thriving Communities. Dr. Wallinga and NRDC have kindly allowed us to repost this article from the original on the NRDC blog.

 Heading into the holidays, many of our families are planning meals centered around a delicious turkey, ham or brisket. But a new analysis from NRDC and our partners at Food Animal Concerns Trust shows that our families' health is at significant risk from how these American meats are typically produced.

Just a week before Thanksgiving, there's news that an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella, linked to raw turkey, is still spreading; it has sickened 164 people thus far, killing one. Each year, at least 2 million Americans suffer infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria, resulting in more than 23,000 deaths. Those numbers are rising according to experts. 

What's that got to do with your holiday dinner planning? Plenty, says our new analysis, released just in time for Antibiotic Awareness Week. 

HANNAH LACASSE, U.S. PIRG EDUCATION FUND.

22 out of 25 get an “F” for a lack of meaningful policies restricting antibiotic use in their beef supply chains. Here’s our beef with the overuse of antibiotics in the beef industry:

On October 17, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Consumer Reports, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Friends of the Earth, and Center for Food Safety released the fourth annual Chain Reaction report. This year, the report surveyed and graded America’s top 25 burger chains on their antibiotic use policies and practices for the beef they buy.