Another reason for using antibiotics is to treat animals that already have disease. This is because intensive farmers need to ensure their livestock is kept as healthy as possible all the time so that the products that the animals produce are safe for consumption. Furthermore, if an animal that a farmer has invested time and money into breeding for a few years suddenly becomes ill, it is too costly for the farmer for the farmer to keep the animal. With the use of antibiotics or hormones the farmer would not find himself in such situations. From this point of view the use of antibiotics in treating disease is imperative in livestock farming.
Farmers are particularly keen on feeding animals antibiotics for production enhancement, namely to promote growth. Once an animal reaches a certain weight it can be sold to a slaughterhouse. Growth enhancing antibiotics cause the animals to reach this weight at a faster rate. This is highly beneficial as it can increase the profits of the farmer as more animals can be sold every year. As the animals reach the weight requirement faster the cost of breeding of them also decreases. The farmer can now sell more animals at a much lower price. This also can be of benefit to the consumer as the meat comes at a cheaper price.
‘For every dollar spent on hormone implants, there are returns of seven to ten dollars to the farmer’. For example, some farmers use rBGH (recombinant growth hormone) to increase their cows’ milk output production. There are a variety of other hormones that can be used but they are minly for the purpose of raising their animal’s faster and more efficiently thus reducing costs for the consumer3
From the above it can be assumed that the use of antibiotics and hormones in animal feed is a great advantage to the farmers and consumers allowing the production of low expense high quality meat and milk. However, there are many disadvantages to the use of antibiotics and hormones.
Despite the many advantages, the use of antibiotics is limited because bacteria have evolved defences against them by inactivating them thus continuing to cause disease. The consumption of antibiotics by animals builds strains of bacteria, resistant to antibiotics that can cause deadly diseases as the antibiotic becomes ineffective. When resistant bacteria are passed on to meat consumers, they too become exposed to diseases. If normal antibiotics are unable to kill bacteria, a simple illness like food poisoning can become a killer.This becomes dangerous as the disease may kill consumers before doctors find a new antibiotic able to combat the resistant bacteria. In the event that the resistant germs do not cause disease, they are still dangerous due to their ability to transfer the antibiotic-resistant factor to other bacteria in the body consequently making them resistant too. Antibiotic resistance has already been described as dangerous as ‘drunk driving or second hand smoke’.4
Another rising concern is the classification of certain drugs given to animals as carcinogens. The health risk is very clear when it is known that the carcinogenic drug is passed on from the animal to the human. In addition, some strains of Penicillin cause allergic reactions; Streptomycin can cause deafness and kidney trouble after prolonged use of high doses.5
As for hormones, they too have been thought to cause cancer when passed onto humans. In addition to this, there are many disadvantages to the animals. rBGH-treated cows suffer higher rates of Mastitis, an infection of the udder caused by overproduction of milk; As a consequence, milk from infected cows can be contaminated with pus and bacteria ,as a consequence requiring treatment with antibiotics which would be unnecessary had the farmers not used the rBGH. It is also thought that milk containing rBGH is unsafe to drink as the hormones could be passed on to the consumer.
These issues cause many problems for consumers of today and questions must be asked to what is happening to make the products from animals safe to consume and what will happen in the years to come.
There is a need to develop a code of practice for use of antibiotics However there is a fear that the introduction of tight regulations will cause harm for animals and encourage illegal distribution. The use of antibiotics should only be permitted if necessary. Some antibiotics are used where animals are kept in areas of poor hygiene where catching disease is easy. If the Farmers spent money on upgrading the conditions instead of buying the antibiotics then we are all at a gain.
It is very important to educate farmers of the growing dangers the misuse of these drugs can cause. If the correct measures are taken then the excess use of antibiotics and hormones will not be a growing problem. However, this cannot happen overnight and drastic measures have to be made fast.6
Bibliography
1 and 2. Both definitions were taken from Understanding Biology for Advanced Level, Third Edition by Toole and Toole.
3. .
4. Quoted by Patrice Courvalin, scientist at the Pasteur Institure of Paris found in an article in the Wall Street Journal of June 28th 1999, the article written by Brandon Mitchener
5. http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/khor-cn.htm based on Malaysian Health Ministry
6. Conclusion based on Summary report of The prudent use of antimicrobials slideshow at the European Scientific Conference in Paris 24-26 March 1999
