farm animals

In animal agriculture, farmers use antibiotics to treat, prevent, and control animal diseases, and to increase the productivity of their operations. According to the FDA, approximately 80% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are purchased for use in food-producing animals.

The routine administration of antibiotics to farm animals for non-therapeutic purposes promotes the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with repercussions for human and animal health. As antibiotic-resistant bacteria spreads, medicines used to treat human diseases can become less effective.

According to a new study led by researchers from the University of Washington, a California policy restricting the use of antibiotics in farm animals is associated with a reduction in one type of antibiotic-resistant infection in people in the state. The findings, recently published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, suggest that regulations limiting the use of antibiotics in livestock can significantly impact human health.

In 2018, California Senate Bill 27 banned routine preventive use of antibiotics in food-animal production and any antibiotic use without a veterinarian’s prescription. Last year, the European Union passed a law restricting antibiotic use to only sick animals on farms. And coming this June, most antibiotics – those that are medically important to humans and animals – will be by prescription only in the United States.

Despite these changes, antibiotic resistance is projected to remain one of the biggest threats to human health over the next 50 years because resistance continues to grow and few new antibiotics are coming online.

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Restricting antibiotics for livestock could limit spread of antibiotic-resistant infections in people

Ranchers should prepare now for 2023 animal antibiotic guidelines

Photo, posted May 8, 2018, courtesy of Preston Keres / USDA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A new study published in Nature has tried for the first time to put a price tag on the impact of invasive species. Researchers have been studying the effects of invasive species for decades, but it is a problem that has not really captured the attention of the public and policy makers.

According to the research by scientists at the French National Museum of Natural History, from 1970 to 2017, invasive species have cost the global economy at least $1.28 trillion dollars in damages and efforts to control them.

The team screened over 19,000 published papers, ultimately analyzing nearly 2,000 that detailed costs of various invasions at particular times. Annual costs roughly doubled every six years, reaching a yearly bill of $162 billion in 2017.

The five costliest invasive species are Aedes mosquitos, rats, cats, termites, and fire ants, collectively accounting for a quarter of the global damage.

Asian tiger mosquitos and yellow fever mosquitos alone accounted for $149 billion in damage to public health as they spread from country to country. Rats hitchhike on human boats and drive native species to extinction on islands around the world. Cats inflict damage primarily by their impact on native biodiversity. By some estimates, they kill a billion birds each year in the US alone. Termites, as they spread across the globe, wreak havoc on all sorts of infrastructure. Fire ants can feed on a variety of seedlings, from citrus to soybeans, reduce the size of grazing lands for livestock and bite and sting farm animals and humans.

The study shows invasive species are a massive problem that is getting worse.

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Invasive Species Cost Billions of Dollars in Damages Annually, Researchers Find

Photo, posted March 29, 2012, courtesy of Aleksey Gnilenkov via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Antibiotics In Animal Agriculture | Earth Wise

In animal agriculture, farmers use antibiotics to treat, prevent, and control animal diseases, and to increase the productivity of their operations. According to the FDA, approximately 80% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are purchased for use in food-producing animals.

Web Links

The Cost Of Invasive Species | Earth Wise

A new study published in Nature has tried for the first time to put a price tag on the impact of invasive species. Researchers have been studying the effects of invasive species for decades, but it is a problem that has not really captured the attention of the public and policy makers.

Web Links