Factory Farm Antibiotic Use Creates 2 Million SuperBug Infections And 23,000 Deaths Each Year

"They robbed me of that experience with my child"

Tell your members of Congress to save antibiotics for medicine, not factory farms.

Nicole Battled an Antibiotic-Resistant Infection After the Birth of Her Son Thomas

Nicole and Thomas after Thomas's first birthday.

Tell Congress to act now to protect other families from this problem!

About four years ago, an antibiotic-resistant infection changed the life of Nicole, a mom from Kensington, Maryland. This situation could happen to anyone and is becoming increasingly common.

But we can fix it. And you can help. Tell your lawmakers to pass legislation to save antibiotics for medicine, not factory farms.

Nicole leads what she jokingly calls a “pretty crunchy” lifestyle. She grows her own organic vegetable garden, sticks to local and organic meat and limits the amount of processed foods in her pantry.

After three-and-a-half weeks of breastfeeding her newborn baby, Thomas, she developed mastitis. “Sometimes the milk duct can get infected and it’s very painful,” Nicole said. “You’re supposed to work through it... but it got worse and worse. On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain became a 30.”

Nicole received antibiotics from her OB/GYN, but it quickly became apparent that they weren’t working. A team of doctors from different hospitals and offices soon discovered that she had antibiotic-resistant MRSA in her breast. The infection was spreading rapidly, and everyone was concerned that Nicole’s C-section incision would soon become septic as well. Nicole was stunned by the whole situation.

By far the scariest part of Nicole’s infection was learning that it had spread to her breast milk, putting her newborn at risk. “It was devastating to me. The worst part of this whole thing for me was being told I couldn’t breastfeed anymore. It was worse than the pain. They robbed me of that experience with my child.”

It took over four months and a lengthy stay in the hospital for Nicole to finally beat her antibiotic-resistant infection. The unfortunate reality is that she is not alone —

2 million Americans experience antibiotic-resistant infections every year, resulting in at least 23,000 deaths. And these infections can affect anyone, no matter who you are or how you live.

This public health crisis is preventable. We can solve this problem.

Factory farms are a breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Every single day, factory farms are feeding their animals regular, low doses of antibiotics to make them grow faster and to prevent disease in filthy, crowded living conditions, creating superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics. In fact, the factory farming industry uses a whopping 80% of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. They're allowed to play by their own rules when it comes to antibiotics, while we suffer the consequences.

That's why Food & Water Watch has launched this campaign to stop factory farms from abusing antibiotics. Our members of Congress won't act unless we spread the word and build public pressure to convince our lawmakers to to pass federal legislation to save antibiotics and save lives..

People like Nicole shouldn't have to go through that kind of ordeal and miss out on some of the most valuable and rewarding experiences of their lives just so factory farms can cut corners and turn a bigger profit.

The first step in the campaign to save antibiotics: tell your members of Congress to support legislation to end the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms.

Thanks for all you do,

Miranda Carter
National Online Campaign Manager
Food And Water Watch
act(at)fwwatch(dot)org"

http://saveantibiotics.org

"How antibiotics are being used to compensate for the overcrowded, stressful conditions on industrial farms and how that's creating superbugs that threaten public health.

Lance Price is a public health researcher who works at the interface between science and policy to address the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance. In the laboratory, Dr. Price uses cutting-edge DNA sequencing to trace the origins of new antibiotic-resistant pathogens. By analyzing the genomes of bacteria found in humans, food, and livestock, Dr. Price and his colleagues have traced the origins of new superbugs to industrial livestock production. Dr. Price and his colleagues have also begun to broaden the scope of foodborne disease to include urinary tract infections caused by foodborne E. coli.

In the policy arena, Dr. Price works with grassroots organizations, NGOs, and policymakers to develop science-based policies to curb antibiotic abuse in food-animal production and stem the emergence of new superbugs. Dr. Price's work was selected by Discover Magazine as one of the top 100 science stories of 2012. His research has also been covered by top-tier media around the world, including the BBC, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Scientific American, Men's Journal, and Fitness Magazine, among others.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)"
Source; video description under video at Youtube.

What is the answer?

Ask your grocer to stock meat that is certified raised antibiotic free.

Buy only meat that has been certified antibiotic free.

Support local family farms that raise animals in humane conditions, as outlined in the TEDX video above.

Visit your local meat farmer and get to know the farmer, how he raises the animals and see the animal's conditions for yourself.

A big part of the problem is that the people eating food are so disconnected from the food that they eat, that they have no idea where their food comes from, or how it was raised. If you can afford it, either raise your own animals, such as chickens, grow your own organic garden, and/or buy only organic food.

More options include using food and herb based antibiotics, as a preventative method that prevent infections from happening in the first place. For example, garlic and onions have antibiotic properties that are equal to or greater than the drug based patented and high cost antibiotics, and can be used in the daily diet. Many herbs have antibiotic and antiviral properties.

End

Factory Farm Antibiotic Use Creates 2 Million SuperBug Infections And 23,000 Deaths Each Year
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/06/factory-farm-antibiotic-use-creates-2.html

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