Antibiotics Breed Drug Resistance in Pigs
Critics call for tighter controls
January 17, 2012
A new study found increases in about 20 different antibiotic-resistance genes in pigs that were fed low doses of antibiotics.
Pigs given low doses of antibiotics had more E. coli in their guts, and that bacteria showed an increased resistance to antibiotics, according to new research.
The study confirms the routine practice of feeding antibiotics to food animals increases drug resistance in the bacteria living in those animals.
The practice is common at large livestock operations worldwide. But experts say it is helping spawn new types of antibiotic-resistant disease organisms, fueling a global public health crisis
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California executive Tom Dukes had a close call with one such superbug. He got painful stomach cramps a couple years ago. His doctor said it was a serious intestinal condition called diverticulitis and prescribed antibiotics.
“Started those on Monday morning and by Tuesday night, I really felt like a million bucks,” he says.
But a few months later, Dukes got the symptoms again. Again, he got antibiotics.
Drug failure
This time, though, they did not work. He wound up in the emergency room, in incredible pain.
“I’d never encountered anything like this before," Dukes says. "Out of all the sports injuries and broken arms and things like that, that all paled in comparison.”
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