How are Drug-Resistant Bacteria Transmitted from Animals to Humans?
People can become infected by eating undercooked contaminated meat, or other foods or utensils that have come in contact with meat juices. In addition, farmers, farm families, and slaughterhouse workers are routinely exposed to antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Finally, significant quantities of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria enter the environment through the nearly two trillion pounds of animal wastes produced annually in the U.S. by animal agriculture operations.15 Farm waste run-off can enter rivers, lakes, and ground water, and these wastes are sometimes spread on agricultural fields as fertilizer as well. What Should Be Done? A recent study from Denmark, where the use of antibiotics in healthy farm animals was banned, demonstrates that ending this practice dramatically reduces the levels of resistant bacteria present in those animals.16 To keep antibiotics working for people who need them, we must stop the overuse of antibiotics in healthy pigs, poultry
