The antibiotic-resistant bacteria Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) is killing both people and swine in Denmark.
The bacteria has been implicated in the deaths of a number
of cancer and liver disease patients. The number of infected patients
jumped 50 percent last year.
Health officials said the bacteria is being transmitted to
humans through pigs. The increased use of antibiotics in agriculture
may be behind the spread of the resistant strain.
Sources:
Dr. Mercola’s Comments:
The
issue of antibiotic-resistant disease is a very serious one, which
actually exacts a greater death toll than “modern plagues” such as
AIDS. Compounding the problem is that not only are antibiotics
over-prescribed in modern medicine, they are also widely over-used in
agriculture – a fact that is grossly overlooked.
What are ESBLs?
Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBLs)
are actually enzymes produced by certain types of bacteria, which
renders the bacteria resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to
treat them.
ESBLs were first discovered in the mid-1980s. At the
time they were mostly found in the Klebsiella species of bacteria, in
hospital intensive care units. Until recently, few people were affected
by these mutated bacteria and it didn’t appear to be a major growing
concern.
That has changed, however. According to the British Health Protection Agency (HPA), a new class of ESBL (called CTX-M enzymes) has emerged, which are now being widely detected among
E.Coli bacteria. These ESBL-producing E. Coli are resistant to penicillins
and cephalosporins, and are becoming more frequent in urinary tract
infections.
Other species of bacteria that can now produce ESBLs include:
- K. pneumoniae
- K. oxytoca
- Salmonella
- Proteus mirabilis
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
The Problem is Worse Than You Think!
According to a study published October 2007 in the
Journal of the American Medical Association
(JAMA), there were close to 100,000 cases of invasive
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in the
United States in 2005, which lead to more than
18,600 deaths.
To put that number into perspective, HIV/AIDS killed 17,000 people that year.
Antibiotic-resistant disease IS a major man-made problem.
This was the study that propelled MRSA
into the news last year, combined with a number of school outbreaks
that took place around the same time. Discussions focused largely on
reducing medical over-use of antibiotics, and proper hygiene such as
washing your hands with soap and water to reduce the spread of infectious disease.
But little has been said about the
rampant over-use of antibiotics in agriculture, which is a MAJOR source
of human antibiotic consumption, and hence increased antibiotic
resistance.
Agriculture as a Source of Antibiotic Resistance
Both MRSA and ESBL are being traced back to animals raised for food production, especially pigs.
These animals are often fed
antibiotics at low doses for disease prevention and growth promotion.
Animals receiving antibiotics in their feed gain 4 to 5 percent more
body weight than animals that do not receive antibiotics, but the price
is high for you, the end consumer, because this practice also creates
the perfect conditions for antibiotic resistance to flourish.
Denmark’s health officials claim they’re unsure of how farmers and
veterinarians, who have not consumed infected meat, are becoming
infected. However, according to research cited on Johns Hopkins website,
the main reservoir of these organisms is in the lower digestive tract,
and they can persist within the gastrointestinal tract for months. So
perhaps the answer doesn’t have to be all that complicated.
So, the meat industry practice of using antibiotics is indeed a
driving force behind the development of antibiotic resistance in a now
wide variety of bacteria that cause human disease.
The long stalemate on this issue constitutes a struggle between strong science and bad politics. The FDA finally banned the use of fluoroquinolones
– a widely used class of antimicrobials — from agricultural use August
1997, but not without the Bayer Corporation kicking and screaming in
vehement opposition. After all, antibiotics for livestock use is big
business. It constitutes about
70 percent of ALL antibiotic use! They couldn’t replace that market with human consumers even if they tried.
Journal of Infectious Diseases
found that bacteria from conventional chicken and from people who ate
the chicken became resistant to Synercid, a strong antibiotic used to
treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In essence, it can cause
resistance to the last lines of defense currently available in the
modern medicine cabinet.
It also found that it was
rare to find resistant bacteria among antibiotic-free chicken, while the majority of bacterial isolates from conventional poultry were resistant.
But, the ramifications of using antibiotics in agriculture don’t end
there. Antibiotics filter down through the food chain in sometimes
non-suspecting ways.
Antibiotics are also being transferred, via manure, into your food supply.
A 2007 study in the
Journal of Environmental Quality looked at whether food crops will accumulate antibiotics from soil covered with antibiotic-containing manure.
In
a greenhouse setting, corn, lettuce and potatoes were grown on soil
that contained hog manure with a commonly used veterinary antibiotic
added.
The antibiotics were absorbed by all three crops, into
both their leaves and tissue. Meanwhile, the antibiotics also
transferred to the potato tubers, suggesting that root crops like
carrots, radishes and potatoes may be particularly at risk of
antibiotic accumulation.
These findings unfortunately also have
implications for organic farmers, who often use manure as their main
source of fertilizer. And, as it stands, manure that contains
antibiotics is still allowed under the organic label.
How to Avoid Excessive Antibiotic Exposure
So how can you ensure that the food you feed to yourself and your family is pure and healthy?
Apart from growing it yourself, your best option is to get to know a
local farmer near you — one who uses non-toxic farming methods. If you
live in an urban area, there are increasing numbers of community-supported agriculture programs available that give you access to healthy, locally grown foods even if you live in the heart of the city.
If you are looking for a safer alternative to commercially raised beef please be sure to check out grass-fed beef.
Grass-fed cattle are not routinely fed antibiotics. They may
occasionally receive them for an infection, but that would be the rare
exception, and even then they are only used for a few days.
For more tips on where to find choice grass-fed beef, see my previous article The Selling of Organic.
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70% of All Antibiotic Use Is In Agriculture