Stop the Overuse of Antibiotics on Factory Farms

antibiotics cowAntibiotics are a miracle of modern medicine, and are designed to be given in precise doses, to treat specific illnesses and infections. But once big farming operations discovered that a regular dose of antibiotics promoted rapid growth and prevented disease in their livestock, they started to routinely put lifesaving medicines into the daily feed of healthy animals.

The result? Bacteria that come into contact with those animals grow resistant to antibiotics. We can be exposed to these bacteria through our food, water and the air we breathe, putting us at risk of getting an infection that antibiotics may no longer treat. Already 2 million people fall ill, and 23,000 people die each year from drug-resistant infections.

Please tell the Obama administration to protect public health, by directing the FDA to stop the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms.

Subject: Stop the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms
I am concerned that the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms is putting public health at risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that, already, more than 2 million people per year fall ill from drug-resistant infections.

Please stand up for public health, and direct the FDA to stop the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms.