February 29, 2012 Dear Indiana, If I get sick or injured, I want to know that the antibiotics that I need to take are going to work. Unfortunately, with all the antibiotics that industrial agriculture feeds to livestock, today's antibiotics are at risk of becoming ineffective. Take action today to keep antibiotics working in the future! According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), 80 percent of antibiotics in the U.S. are sold for use in livestock production. Often, antibiotics are fed to entire flocks or herds of animals to prevent illnesses they may never acquire or have little risk of contracting. The overuse of antibiotics encourages the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This is a global threat to human health and must be stopped. Bacteria, like everything else in nature, mutate naturally and do so in such a way to continue their own existence. Not all bacteria are destroyed by antibiotics, and the surviving bacteria then multiply, creating a new strain that the antibiotics cannot kill. We're seeing more and more types of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but we can help stop this. The FDA is seeking comments on the use of one specific type of antibiotic in livestock. The deadline for comments is Tuesday. Will you submit a comment today? Send an email to the FDA today to stop the overuse of antibiotics: http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9495 Thanks for taking action, Meredith Begin Education & Outreach Organizer Food & Water Watch mbegin(at)fwwatch(dot)org |
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