Doctors in Canada are proposing a ban that would eliminate antibiotics in animal feed.
The move has been prompted by the emergence of methycillin resistant strains of staphiloccus aureus, also known by its acronym, MRSA.
Canadian doctors are contending that if the practice of adding hormones to feed is not halted, the world's antibiotic supply might become useless. Without this first and second line of defense therapies, there is no stopping the advance of antibiotic resistant strains.
Not everyone who gets MRSA dies, but it is now a very difficult infection to treat.
The limitation of the effectiveness of antibiotics stems from the constant assumption by consumers of meat or poultry that has been raised with a feed in which there are substantial levels of antibiotics. The practice has become widespread and worldwide, with some foreign countries surpassing by multiples the guideline dosage limits of the antibiotics in feed.
This is a measure that only benefits the farmers. Antibiotics in feed have absolutely no benefit to the consumer. It is given routinely to avoid losing any livestock. But this has created the perfect condition for pathogens such as staphylococcus and Escherichia Coli to mutate into a highly resistant and difficult to treat infection.
Another lesser known development is the strengthening through mutation of the viruses that cause strep throat.
In the past, one round of antibiotic was usually able to clear the infection. Now the streptococcus bacillum that causes it has become hardier and tends to recur in the patient after treatment. Another problem is that the strep throat, because it is not so easily defeated, is now causing complications such as scarlet fever.
The Canadian doctors are asking that the medical community, in any country, be more diligent in withholding antibiotic therapy in cases that do not warrant its use. But they are also adamant that the practice of antibiotic use in feed be halted, and that the medical community track antibiotic consumption in patients, or history, so that the prescription of antibiotic therapy becomes more exact.
In Canada, in particular, there are loopholes that allow farmers to import antibiotics, thereby enabling them to circumvent existing regulation. And the regulation that is in place, is not strict enough to at least curb the usage of antibiotic in feed.
Just recently, England's Chief Medical Office, warned that within the next two decades, the population of the world will be at risk in much the same way they were before the discovery of antibiotics. This could also pose a significant problem in surgical settings and hospitals, among other things.
In addition to Staphylococcus and Streptococcus, resistant strain or E. Coli and Klebsiella Pneymonia have been found in Europe.
partial source : MNT 3.22.13
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