An antimicrobial crisis
Melanie Kucera - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Metro
An older woman feeding several chickens running around in her yard appeared on the screen.
The 1900s-era black and white drawing was then compared to a modern concentrated animal-feeding operation, in which more than 75,000 birds were tightly crammed together. Ellen Silbergeld, a professor of health sciences at Johns Hopkins University, described the dim lighting and noted that the birds live among their feces.
In a Wednesday afternoon lecture, she discussed this and the myriad changes to the industrial production of food animals and how it is affecting public health.
"There is a crisis," she said, noting the rise of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
Animals are increasingly given food that contains FDA-approved antibiotics, which in turn increases bacteria's resistance to antibiotics in humans, Silbergeld said.
"About 80 percent of antimicrobial agents manufactured in the U.S. go into non-therapeutic purposes in feeds for primarily cattle, pigs, and poultry," she said.
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack charged the UI and Iowa State University to conduct a study on such animal confinements in 2001. The study, published in 2002, showed that animal-confinement workers were at a higher risk for certain illnesses, and its authors suggested Iowa regulate ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and odors.
Silbergeld also described a study that showed Iowa and North Carolina use more than twice the amount of antimicrobials for hog production than in all clinical uses in the United States.
And concentrated animal-feeding operations produce waste that is disposed with minimal treatment, polluting 20 percent of rivers and streams, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Chicken catchers, who wear no protective gear, are at the biggest risk, Silbergeld said. The UI and ISU study showed that employees who worked firsthand, particularly with pigs and poultry, suffered from irritation of the nose and throat, headaches, sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, and other illnesses.
Improving the management on concentrated animal-feeding operation and banning antimicrobials from the feed were two possible solutions, she said.
The UI Environmental Health Sciences Research Center has hosted several conferences and workshops on the topic as well as producing several papers, said Deb Venzke, an editor in the UI College of Public Health's communications office, in an e-mail.
E-mail DI reporter Melanie Kucera at:
melanie-kucera@uiowa.edu
The 1900s-era black and white drawing was then compared to a modern concentrated animal-feeding operation, in which more than 75,000 birds were tightly crammed together. Ellen Silbergeld, a professor of health sciences at Johns Hopkins University, described the dim lighting and noted that the birds live among their feces.
In a Wednesday afternoon lecture, she discussed this and the myriad changes to the industrial production of food animals and how it is affecting public health.
"There is a crisis," she said, noting the rise of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
Animals are increasingly given food that contains FDA-approved antibiotics, which in turn increases bacteria's resistance to antibiotics in humans, Silbergeld said.
"About 80 percent of antimicrobial agents manufactured in the U.S. go into non-therapeutic purposes in feeds for primarily cattle, pigs, and poultry," she said.
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack charged the UI and Iowa State University to conduct a study on such animal confinements in 2001. The study, published in 2002, showed that animal-confinement workers were at a higher risk for certain illnesses, and its authors suggested Iowa regulate ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and odors.
Silbergeld also described a study that showed Iowa and North Carolina use more than twice the amount of antimicrobials for hog production than in all clinical uses in the United States.
And concentrated animal-feeding operations produce waste that is disposed with minimal treatment, polluting 20 percent of rivers and streams, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Chicken catchers, who wear no protective gear, are at the biggest risk, Silbergeld said. The UI and ISU study showed that employees who worked firsthand, particularly with pigs and poultry, suffered from irritation of the nose and throat, headaches, sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, and other illnesses.
Improving the management on concentrated animal-feeding operation and banning antimicrobials from the feed were two possible solutions, she said.
The UI Environmental Health Sciences Research Center has hosted several conferences and workshops on the topic as well as producing several papers, said Deb Venzke, an editor in the UI College of Public Health's communications office, in an e-mail.
E-mail DI reporter Melanie Kucera at:
melanie-kucera@uiowa.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
concerned
posted 4/24/08 @ 6:23 PM CST
food producers MUST stop this. Instead of just passing off a low-quality product to consumers that threatens their health AND comes from inhumane sources, why don't they actually take the time to produce food that is ethical and won't increase bacterial resistance. (Continued…)
Luke Thomas
posted 4/29/08 @ 12:20 AM CST
MRSA in the meat has been found in pork and chicken, even years ago; this is obvious since all animals have staph on their skin (including humans). Staph+antibiotic abuse=MRSA. (Continued…)
JITA
JITA
posted 4/29/08 @ 11:06 PM CST
So, why isn't the Government protecting us from this?
Are the Government and producers liable?
Post a Comment