Superbugs discussion

After completing many of the items in the module, you now have a good understanding of what a superbug is and how our use of antibiotics contributes to the generation of superbugs. The overuse of antibiotics is oft-cited as a reason for the increase in superbugs along with the lack of new antibiotics in development.

One key area of current debate across the country is the use of antibiotics in the meat industry. For years, farmers gave small doses of antibiotics to their livestock which improved animal growth. While the exact mechanism for the observed increase in growth is not known, it is believed that the antibiotics would kill gut microbes that may be interfering with or reducing the absorbance of nutrients in the gut. In response to increased concerns about the overuse of antibiotics, the FDA issued stricter guidance regarding the use of antibiotics in livestock in 2017,

“Under the Food and Drug Administration policy, antibiotics that have been designated “medically important” — in other words, they’re needed to treat people — cannot legally be given to healthy animals to speed their growth. The policy, three years in the making, requires producers of agricultural antibiotics to change labeling on the drugs to make clear they should not be used for so-called growth promotion. All manufacturers have agreed to abide by the new rule. The policy also requires that from now on, food animals can only be given medically important drugs under the supervision of a veterinarian — a move designed to restrict their use to the treatment of animal illnesses. (Business Insider, 2017)

In October 2017, the city of San Francisco opted for even more transparency regarding the use of antibiotics in meat for its consumers. In the new ordinance, grocery stores will be required to document the antibiotic use in the meat and poultry for sale in their stores and must make that information available to consumers. Of course, this reporting element gets passed off to the producer of the product causing a bit of a stir among those in the livestock industry. Learn a bit more about the debate in this brief Washington Post article. (Links to an external site.) Then share your thoughts in the discussion by considering the following questions:

Do you agree with the FDA restriction on the use of antibiotics to increase growth of livestock animals?

Do you agree with the San Francisco city ordinance that requires meat and poulty producers to disclose antibiotic use (average number of days antibiotic was used, percentage of animals affected, total volume of antibiotics)? What are some of the positive and negative aspects of the San Francisco ordinance?

Would you support a similar ordinance if suggested for the city that you live in?

Weigh in with your view. Please be sure to support your position. See the Discussion Post Scoring page in Module 1 if you would like to review how Discussion posts will be scored.

After completing many of the items in the module, you now have a good understanding of what a superbug is and how our use of antibiotics contributes to the generation of superbugs. The overuse of antibiotics is oft-cited as a reason for the increase in superbugs along with the lack of new antibiotics in development.

One key area of current debate across the country is the use of antibiotics in the meat industry. For years, farmers gave small doses of antibiotics to their livestock which improved animal growth. While the exact mechanism for the observed increase in growth is not known, it is believed that the antibiotics would kill gut microbes that may be interfering with or reducing the absorbance of nutrients in the gut. In response to increased concerns about the overuse of antibiotics, the FDA issued stricter guidance regarding the use of antibiotics in livestock in 2017,

“Under the Food and Drug Administration policy, antibiotics that have been designated “medically important” — in other words, they’re needed to treat people — cannot legally be given to healthy animals to speed their growth. The policy, three years in the making, requires producers of agricultural antibiotics to change labeling on the drugs to make clear they should not be used for so-called growth promotion. All manufacturers have agreed to abide by the new rule. The policy also requires that from now on, food animals can only be given medically important drugs under the supervision of a veterinarian — a move designed to restrict their use to the treatment of animal illnesses. (Business Insider, 2017)

In October 2017, the city of San Francisco opted for even more transparency regarding the use of antibiotics in meat for its consumers. In the new ordinance, grocery stores will be required to document the antibiotic use in the meat and poultry for sale in their stores and must make that information available to consumers. Of course, this reporting element gets passed off to the producer of the product causing a bit of a stir among those in the livestock industry. Learn a bit more about the debate in this brief Washington Post article. (Links to an external site.) Then share your thoughts in the discussion by considering the following questions:

Do you agree with the FDA restriction on the use of antibiotics to increase growth of livestock animals?

Do you agree with the San Francisco city ordinance that requires meat and poulty producers to disclose antibiotic use (average number of days antibiotic was used, percentage of animals affected, total volume of antibiotics)? What are some of the positive and negative aspects of the San Francisco ordinance?

Would you support a similar ordinance if suggested for the city that you live in?

Weigh in with your view. Please be sure to support your position. See the Discussion Post Scoring page in Module 1 if you would like to review how Discussion posts will be scored.