The Providence City Council approved a resolution in support of federal restrictions on the use of antibiotics in factory farms Feb. 6. The council may be the first in the country to pass such regulations.
“It’s largely a symbolic act,” said Gus Fuguitt, spokesman for Food and Water Watch — an NGO and consumer rights group based in Washington. “The resolution simply calls on every member of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation to support any legislation that would ban the misuse of antibiotics on factory farms.”
Though antibiotics were historically reserved for the treatment of disease, factory farms have been using them for nontherapeutic reasons since the 1950s by mixing them in cattle feed to promote weight gain and prevent infections.
Approximately 80 percent of all antibiotics sold nationally are sold to factory farms, according to a 2011 report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Alarmed by these practices, the World Health Organization, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and Infectious Disease Society of America have issued statements calling for controls on the use of antibiotics in livestock for subtheraputic purposes, according to Food and Water Watch.
“As a biologist, the biggest concern to me is that the enormously widespread usage of antibiotics promotes the natural selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which poses a serious hazard to human health,” said Professor of Biology Ken Miller ’70 P’02.
In a report on antibiotic resistance threats published last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that at least 2,049,442 illnesses and 23,000 deaths are caused annually as a result of antibiotic-resistant infections.
“It is clear that conditions on farms and ranches have led to increased antibiotic resistance and fewer and fewer antibiotics available to treat very serious infections,” Miller said. “Over time, first-line antibiotics such as penicillin, ampicillin, tetracycline have become useless towards some bacterial strains.”
Food and Water Watch has been working on the issue in Providence since January. “Our next goal is to get Senator (Sheldon) Whitehouse to hold a committee hearing to raise awareness and to get more senators on board to understand more about the issue,” Fuguitt said.
“When you have a method of production that creates a public health risk, it is entirely appropriate for the government to regulate that,” Miller said.
Congress is considering a bill called the Prevention of Antibiotic Resistance Act, and the House is also considering the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act. Both bills would ban the nontherapeutic agricultural use of certain antibiotics deemed most valuable for treating illnesses.
“It’s going to be a long fight with lots of divested interest. The agriculture industry wants to produce as much meat as it can, while drug companies want to maintain their drug sales,” Fuguitt said.
“Providence is truly leading the way on this issue, and it is exciting to see several students on Brown’s campus who have shown a lot of enthusiasm in working on the initiative,” he added.
Fuguitt argued that there are “hidden costs that we don’t see in the equation like public health costs — last year, hospitals in Chicago spent $18 million to (prevent) the spread of disease linked to antibiotic resistance.”
The National Research Council estimates that a ban on nontherapeutic use — such as the legislation currently under discussion in Congress — would increase per-capita costs by about $5 to 10 per year on agricultural products, thereby increasing prices for the average consumer. And the NRC report suggests that other methods, such as diminishing overcrowding and providing vaccinations for livestock on factory farms, could serve as alternatives to current agricultural practices that keep prices low.
Providence’s resolution will ensure that the conversation over antibiotic use remains active.
“It is important for communities to take sides on these issues,” said Councilman Seth Yurdin, who sponsored the resolution. “It is my hope that more cities across the country will follow suit.”
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