By Sarah Stevenson
Bonner Springs junior
When antibiotics were first approved by the Food and Drug Administration to feed to livestock in the 1950s, it had a monumental impact on how we look at agriculture today. Antibiotics have not only helped humans live longer, but also led them to go on and live healthier lives. It also had the same effect on livestock, helping them become healthier and also more efficient. The amount of money that is being put into feed costs and supplement costs decreased because producers used a lot less to gain a lot more. Without antibiotics, beef production might not have been able to keep up with demand due to illness, disease, and sickness.
“Media reports often cite the total amount of antibiotics used in animals in a given year and sound alarms if it reflects an increase over the previous year,” according to the North American Meat Institute publication “The Facts About Antibiotics in Livestock & Poultry Production: Sort Fact from Fiction.”
The report continues, “However, looking at the total volume used is a poor measure of appropriate use because livestock herds and poultry flocks shrink and expand with feed costs and other marketplace factors. Larger herds and flocks will, inevitably, require more medical treatment. In addition, if a contagious disease has impacted our herds and flocks, more antibiotics may be required that year.”
Antibiotics that are used in U.S. food production today are injected into animals by subcutaneous (under the skin) or intramuscular routes (into the muscle, just like humans). They also can be mixed in drinking water (not often done with cattle), or by mixing it with their daily feed. When injectables are used, they are typically only given to cattle that are sick or at risk of getting sick from some type of infection or from other cows. They are used as needed, because it puts the handler and the cow at risk because it puts extra stress on that animal that is not needed.
Most products that are used in livestock production today need a prescription from a veterinarian. Ranchers use antibiotics that best fit the herds’ needs in order to keep them healthy and strong. Ranchers must form a bond with their local veterinarian in order to get the right medications and to use them properly. A veterinary client-patient relationship is required by state and federal regulations for the dispensing of antibiotics.
Various antibiotics are used in livestock production, such as penicillin, tetracycline, ceftiofur, florfenicol, tilmicosin, enrofloxacin, and tulathromycin. Different types of medicines are used to treat or control disease for the survival of the animal or to prevent disease when it is likely, such as at times of stress like weaning. All of the antibiotics listed above are classified as “medically important”’ because they are used in both animals and humans. Drugs such as ionophores are considered “not medically important” because they are only used in animals. The industry has taken steps to have stronger oversight of all medically important drugs.
While some antibiotics are used in both humans and animals, the NAMI publication “The Facts About Antibiotics,” cited above, shows that “the vast majority of antibiotics are used in either people or in animals – not both.”
A common misconception is that reducing the volume of antibiotics used in agriculture would benefit human health. However, that theory lacks evidence to support it, as noted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh. They found that “reducing the rate of transmission of resistance from animals to humans may be more effective than simply reducing consumption of antibiotics in food animals, and that response to any intervention is strongly determined by the rate of transmission from humans to animals.”
Consumers also wonder if these antibiotics are still in the meat. When antibiotics are given to cattle, they go through an FDA mandated withdrawal time after treatment, which is the waiting period for the treatment to be processed by the animal tissues so the amount remaining is at a safe level when the cattle go to slaughter. The withdrawal is specific for each antibiotic.
When animals are being shipped to slaughter facilities throughout the country, the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Services randomly test for antibiotics in carcasses to ensure meat packaged for human consumption is free of any illegal antibiotic residue. If found, the meat is condemned and does not enter the food supply. The cattle operators responsible are fined heavily and can be imprisoned.
Even though this doesn’t happen very often, when it does you can always look on the FSIS website www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/home and find these reports and add comments and suggestions to what you think needs to be changed and fixed.
The take-home message is that there are beneficial factors of using antibiotics. When used correctly, they make herds healthier and help prevent well-known illnesses. The industry continues to balance the need for antibiotics in animals and humans for battling disease and is working to address antibiotic resistance.
Sarah Stevenson, a 2016 Turner High School graduate, is a junior majoring in animal science at Fort Hays State University. She is the daughter of Sherri and Calvin Stevenson, Bonner Springs.
This essay on a topic in agriculture was researched and written by a student as part of a project in a senior animal science class at Fort Hays State University. The project director is Dr. Brittany Howell, associate professor of agriculture, bjhowell@fhsu.edu, 785-628-4015.