iOS app Android app More  Sunil Chacko   Time for Antibiotics-
Free Animal Industry Practices  Posted: 06/22/11 11:43 AM ET
In the US, approximately 70% of all antibiotics are fed to
chicken, pigs and cattle. Resistant or partially resistant
bacteria have been isolated from the fecal matter of those
animals. An active debate is underway on banning the sub-
clinical use of antibiotics with the American Medical
Association opposing the use of medically important antibiotics
in healthy poultry and farm animals. Further, the US Food and
Drug Administration has called for a ban on the use of the
fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics in poultry.  Resistance to
antibiotics develops because while low-dose antibiotics can kill
most susceptible bacteria, the more robust ones survive and
multiply passing on their resistant characteristics. Further,
mutation of bacterial DNA adds defenses against antibiotics such
as biochemical pumps to flush out antibiotics, and also enzymes
to inactivate antibiotics. Worse, antibiotics-