Why Do Industrial Farms Use Antibiotics For Animal Feed And Water? Essay

2. There are many conditions with symptoms similar to those described in the story. Research the symptoms. What bacteria or pathogens, other than E. coli, might be responsible for these illnesses? What are some examples of other ilnesses that can have similar symptoms?

The outlook on antibiotics has changed dermadicly since we have fist started using them. Antibiotics is a substance that is produced by a microorganism that can kill or prevent the growth of another microorganism. The major conflict that will be covered in the paper is antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics resistance

In ground beef you can get E. coli because they slaughter the cow and then the E. coli from there intestine gets on the ground meat and they mix the meat and then that gives it a higher risk of spreading it.(Staff Mayo Clinic) In unpasteurized milk it comes from the udder of the cow and then it gets into the milk. (Staff Mayo Clinic) In fresh food it comes from the farms that can contaminate the farm. The most vulnerable to this is lettuce and spinach. (Staff Mayo Clinic) In contaminated water there can be E. coli because it untreated and there is feces in it.(Staff Mayo Clinic) Also personal contact which means that adults can give it to their kids because they do not wash their hands after using the bathroom.(Staff Mayo Clinic) Also it passed in restaurants because cooks or people working back their do not wash their hands. E. coli causes the hemolytic-urine syndrome, which is a blood and kidney disease in children. It can also cause Uninary tract infections and bladder infections or it can lead to sepsis. There is another cause Thrombotic thrombocytopenic Purpura. This is a rare blood disease. It causes clots to form in small blood vessels throughout the body. This usually causes through the infectious parts of E. coli.

Then Tom continues education with a little education on the variety of antibiotics and how “crucial for treating serious human infections” (Philpott). Using a hotlink to a well-known credible organization like the “Food and Drug Administration” back up some of his statistics regarding over use of antibiotics in livestock operations. Tom continually notes

A sample of the patients bacteria causing the urinary tract infection can only be used if a urine sample is bacteriologically viable (1 Radar). Infected urine and sterile urine are common samples used for the diagnosis of patients (1 Radar). It is important to gain further knowledge of multiple organisms’ resistance to antibiotics that cause urinary tract infections (1Radar). Escherichia coli has distinct characteristics and structures that help identify their unique properties (2 Johnson). Escherichia coli is the most common and most prevalent bacteria present in the fecal flora of the human colon (2 Johnson). Because of Escherichia coli unique ability to overcome the obstacles of a new environment, it makes easy for bacteria to spread into the urinary tract and produce a discomforting infection (2 Johnson). All research conducted lead to the belief that Escherichia coli was the Enterobacteriaceae pathogen causing the UTI in the patient. In order to confirm this prediction a set of differential tests and biochemical test must be conducted.

Since the introduction of penicillin to the public in 1942, antibiotics have gained widespread use throughout the world. The drug has allowed society to make advancements in medicine, increase an individual’s personal well-being, extend life expectancies, and stop and prevent infections. Antibiotics are one of the largest backbones to maintaining personal health in society today, yet there may be a day when we are no longer able to depend on antibiotics to fight infections. In the essay “Imagining the post antibiotic future”, Maryn McKenna establishes the importance of antibiotics to juxtapose how devastating life would be without them.

The four specific databases that were used in this research are, Cinahl, Medline, Joanna Briggs and Cochrane Library. All of these databases were chosen because they provided up to date peer reviewed evidence that was relevant to the search terms. This ensures that the evidence that was found was relevant and reliable. The Cinahl website was useful to gather background information on the topic such as how a UTI is contracted and how it effects the body. The Cochrane Library and Medline website was useful to because it gave specific information on studies that had already been done by other researchers. This helped to ensure that the study that is being undertaken was searching for the right results.

The main threat for the overuse of antibiotics are the creation of antibiotic resistant microbes, or more commonly called superbugs. Antibiotics are used to kill mass amounts of bacteria, but they cannot kill all of them. Some bacteria still survive, so they will reproduce and pass their genes down to their offspring. The offspring will now have their parents genes, which includes being resistant to a certain type of antibiotic. Tom Philpott, an award winning writer about food politics, explained, “And the worst part is that antibiotics use in factory farms is not mostly matter of keeping animals healthy.” Philpott is saying farmers mostly use antibiotics to promote faster growth and not to treat sickness. American Cyanamid, a pharmaceutical company, tested animals with vitamin B12 to see if they grew faster. The animals saw significant weight gain, and more experiments were tested. What American Cyanamid found was the antibiotic in vitamin B12 was actually causing the weight gain. This discovery led to mass amounts of antibiotics being used in animals. In 1950, before the discovery, there were 1.6 million chicken farms raising a total of about 560 million chickens. 28 years later, 3 billion chickens were being hatched in about 31,000 large farms (Philpott). The discovery led to mass expansion of farms, because animals were able to grow faster and bigger, so farms took advantage. Factory farms have been overusing

E. coli bacteria affects children and the elderly along with people with weak immune systems.

E. coli is a bacterium capable of being transmitted from one person to another. To ensure that the bacteria used in this experiment were not transmitted to other places, items, or organisms, several safety protocols were followed.

Public Health Nutrition state, "Antibiotics at subtherapeutic levels, as well as arsenic and other metal compounds, are used in animal feeds to promote growth of the animals in IAP" (Walker, Rhubart-Berg, et. al.). The animals health is promoted and they grow faster. Timothy Landers states, "The potential threat to human health resulting from inappropriate antibiotic use in food animals is significant..." The threat towards the consumer is greater when chemicals are used to promote the animal's health, Furthermore, Consumer Reports presented, "Humans are at risk both due to potential presence of superbugs in meat and poultry, and to the general migration of superbugs into the environment, where they can transmit their genetic immunity to antibiotics to other bacteria, including bacteria that make people sick” (Consumer Reports). Although used for a good cause, superbugs can be created and bred where they can eventually infect the consumer. Even though antibiotics promote the health of the animal it causes a huge health risk to the consumer and

The health of consumers will not be endangered if we treat the animals humanely. Antibiotic resistance caused by factory

UTI’s (urinary tract infection) are an infection to the urinary system. There caused by certain bacteria

E. coli are usually harmless, but can cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illnesses and other illnesses. This bacterium is also beneficial to humans and are part of our natural intestinal microflora, but E. coli can also lead to mild to serious illnesses in the human body. Disease causing E. coli are grouped according to the ways they cause illnesses. Escherichia coli is spread when people consume at-risk foods, these include foods such as undercooked ground beef, produce that have come into contact with fecal matter, contaminated water and unpasteurized dairy and juice products. This bacterium can also spread from person to person by unwashed hands, contaminated surfaces (fomites) and pond water.

Most urinary tract infections are primarily caused by bacteria that live in the bowel region of the body. The bacterium Escherichia coli, commonly referred to as “E. coli”, causes most UTIs. The urinary tract has several systems to prevent infection. The points where the ureters attach to the bladder act as only one way valves to prevent urine from moving back up toward the kidneys. Urination is intended to wash microbes and any infectious bacteria out of the body. In males, the prostate gland produces secretions that slow down bacterial growth in the urinary tract. In both woman and men, immune defenses try to prevent infections, but despite these safety procedures put in place by the body, infections still do occur in some individuals.