Control factory farming so as to curb antibiotic resistance peril
Prevention is better than cure, but with antibiotics, it is counterproductive.
Antibiotics are, by far, one of the most important medical discoveries. They are indispensable in the treatment of infectious diseases of microbial origin, significantly reducing the risk of death.
However, their overuse and misuse has led to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), whose consequences include emergence of microbes that are insensitive to intended action of antibiotics and, therefore, deaths from infections that were once easily preventable with proper use of antibiotics.
The World Health Organization (WHO) blames AMR for almost five million deaths yearly and projected to reach 10 million by 2050. Further, WHO reports that over half of antibiotic use is administered to farmed animals—implying that factory farming is one of the drivers of AMR.
In factory farming, livestock are kept in cramped and often unhygienic confinement, conditions aimed at enhancing production with minimal cost. Unfortunately, this comes at a serious cost as such spaces are breeding grounds for diseases. Farmers resort to excessive and indiscriminate use of antibiotics through injections, feed and water to prevent disease outbreak and enhance productivity.
Prevention is better than cure, but with antibiotics, it is counterproductive. These drugs are meant to treat diseases, not prevent them. Directly through consumption of meat, milk and eggs and indirect contact through contaminated animal waste, humans can acquire antibiotic-resistant infections.
Most antibiotics used in farm animals are of medical importance as they are also used to treat human infections. Their use in sick humans further exacerbates the problem as the disease entrenches itself and resistant microbes spread.
As the global population burgeons with rapid urbanisation hot on its heels, especially in Africa, the demand for animal-sourced protein to sustain the nutritional needs for people is on the rise. The use of antibiotics in livestock to increase growth and productivity is, therefore, projected to surge at a greater scale to meet the demand for meat protein.
This should be a cause for concern among public health experts to roll out interventions aimed at curbing the unregulated use of antibiotics in livestock production. There should heightened calls to discourage the use of antibiotics used to treat human infections in animals. In addition, antibiotics should be prescribed only on sick animals rather than indiscriminate use, where the healthy ones are also targeted.
Importantly, livestock producers should maintain acceptable standards of animal welfare practices, such as spacious well-ventilated confinement and hygienic breeding conditions. That will result in healthier animals, limiting the need of antibiotics.
- Dr Kerima, PhD, is a biochemist. [email protected]. @KerimaZablon
