U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2010). Antibiotic resistance and the
threat to public health. http://www.hhs.gov/asI/testify/2010/04/t20100428b.html
- “Antimicrobials are used to treat infections by different disease-causing
microorganisms, including bacteria, mycobacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi.
In the vast majority of cases where antimicrobials are used, the microorganisms
have found a way to evade or resist the antimicrobial agent. Resistance occurs
whenever antimicrobials are used – in the community, on the farm, and in
healthcare. Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem, and some of our most
significant global threats are multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and drug-resistant
malaria.” - “The newest resistance challenge in the healthcare setting is multi-drug resistant
gram-negative bacteria. Particularly concerning are the carbapenemase-
producing bacteria, such as bacteria of the Klebsiella species, among others.” - “Antimicrobialis is a general term for the drugs, chemicals, or other substances
that wither kill or slow the growth of microbes. Among the antimicrobial agents
in use today are antibiotic drugs (which kill bacteria), antiviral agents (which kill
viruses), antifungal agents (which kill fungi), and antiparisitic drugs (which kill
parasites). An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial agent made from a mold or a
bacterium that kills, or slows the growth of other microbes, specifically bacteria.
Examples include penicillin and streptomycin.”
Van Boeckel, T. P., Brower, C., Gilbert, M., et al. (2015). Global trends in
antimicrobial use in food animals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
112(18). pg. 5649-54. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1503141112
- “Demand for animal protein for human consumption is rising globally at an
unprecedented rate...there has been no quantitative measurement of global
antimicrobial consumption by livestock.” - “We estimate that the global average annual consumption of antimicrobials per
kilogram of animal produced [in] 2010 was 45 mg•kg-1, 148 mg•kg-1, and 172
mg•kg-1 for cattle, chicken, and pigs, respectively.” - “For Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the increase in antimicrobial
consumption will be 99%, [by 2030] up to seven times the projected population
growth in this group of countries.” - “This rise is likely to be driven by the growth in consumer demand for livestock
products in middle-income countries and a shift to large-scale farms where
antimicrobials are used routinely.”