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March 4, 2013
Understanding Antibiotic Use for Livestock
For more information on Newsline, contact: Johnna Miller, Director of Media Development, American Farm Bureau Federation johnnam@fb.org
People are more interested these days about what’s in their food and that means members of Congress are more interested as well. The Coalition for Animal Health wants to make sure lawmakers and their staff understand the facts about antibiotic use on the farm. Dr. Scott Hurd is a veterinarian and epidemiologist at Iowa State University. He was one of three veterinarians at a recent Capitol Hill briefing. AFBF’s Johnna Miller has that story.
| Miller: | Most people know you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet. But how do you decide what to believe? Members of the Animal Health Coalition hosted a briefing to give those on Capitol Hill access to experts on the issue of antibiotic use for livestock. Dr. Scott Hurd is an epidemiologist and veterinarian at Iowa State University. He says accusations blaming farms for a rise in antibiotic resistance in humans isn’t based on facts. |
| Hurd: | Your risk of dying from a bee sting is 1 in 6 million. So the average American is more likely to die from a bee sting than they are to get a few extra days of diarrhea because of using this antibiotic on the farm. And this includes treatment and prevention uses. So when people talk about this issue, they’re talking about concern. They’re not actually talking about quantifiable, scientifically peer-reviewed risk assessments. |
| Miller: | Dr. Hurd has done such risk assessments. |
| Hurd: | It’s a long way from the farm to harm. In fact, there are many steps. We find resistant bacteria on the farm, we find resistant bacteria in the hospitals. Some people say there’s a connection, there’s a link, but they ignore the fact there are many steps between those two events and there are many things that are then actually able to prevent that harm. |
| Miller: | Dr. Hurd points out that preventing sickness actually does lead to healthier food, because bacteria is less likely to reach the processing plants where it could be spread by workers. |
| Hurd: | We treat animals in a barn because we know if the first guy gets sick, we’re going to treat the whole barn before everybody else gets sick. Animals need medicine just like kids do. You can’t raise your kids without antibiotics. You can’t raise animals without antibiotics. They get sick. There’s a moral and ethical problem if, as a veterinarian or even as a farmer, we fail to treat or we withhold treatment. I took an oath to protect public health and prevent animal suffering. What do we do when we show up at a farm that doesn’t use antibiotics? What do we do for those animals? It’s a challenge. |
| Miller: | And a challenge many who haven’t done their homework on the issue may not understand. Johnna Miller, Washington. |
| Miller: | Newsline is updated Mondays and Thursdays by 5pm Eastern. Thank you for listening. |