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National Geographic : 2015 Mar
Contents
GRAPHIC: ÁLVARO VALIÑO. SOURCES: NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL; CDC; USDA; ALLIANCE FOR THE PRUDENT USE OF ANTIBIOTICS; NATIONAL ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE MONITORING SYSTEM THE POULTRY CASE STUDY $1.29apound $3.24*apound to grow a 3.4-pound broiler. *2011 dollars, adjusted for inflation 53% In 1960 it took 63 days to grow a 5.4-pound one. In 2011 it took 47 days 100 80 60 40 20 0 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1990 1980 2000 2010 MEAT CONSUMPTION IN THE U.S. pounds per person per year Beef Pork Chicken Turkey ANTIBIOTIC USE 80% $21-34 billion 2,049,400 Illnesses 23,000 Deaths Nonresistant Resistant bacterial infections 6.4 12.7 nights 29.9 7.7 2001 2005 30 20 10 0 2011 to give to livestock to treat sick people million pounds Resistant bacterial infections double risk of death compared with nonresistant infections. 1. Antibiotics can be given to livestock in their feed or sprayed on them, to be ingested when the animals groom themselves. But some of them can be naturally drug resistant. Farmworkers often have direct contact with animals. When antibiotics kill the nonresistant bacteria... Drug-resistant bacteria can linger on improperly cooked meat. the resistant ones— the superbugs—can flourish. Fertilizer or water con- taining animal feces can spread superbugs to food crops. 2. The bacteria causing an infection are usually not resistant to drugs. 3. Superbugs can be passed to humans in many ways. HOW RESISTANCE DEVELOPS AND SPREADS of grocery store chicken sampled in a 2013 study had resistant E. coli. CASES OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN AMERICANS, 2013 HOSPITALIZATION TIME Only 7 percent of some 400 antibiotic drugs given to livestock have been reviewed by the FDA.
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