Why the breeding industry must not abuse antibiotics
The use of antibiotics in the breeding industry is very common, but the problem cannot be ignored. In many places, the use of antibiotic drugs has gone far beyond the scope of antibacterial treatment; there is not only over-dosage use, but also the reckless use of antibiotic drugs with high residue levels and serious toxic side effects, which causes bacteria to develop drug resistance and brings new difficulties to the prevention and control of livestock and poultry epidemics. Li Cuiying, a senior livestock specialist at the Agriculture Bureau of Yuanjiang City, Hunan Province, reminds farmers not to abuse antibiotics.
The drug resistance produced by antibiotics is a global problem. Long-term use of a certain antibiotic in livestock and poultry feed can not only increase the number of drug-resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria, but also make normal strains resistant to that antibiotic, affecting the therapeutic effect of the drug. It has now been found that drug resistance can even be transferred to the human body, affecting the control of human diseases.
Long-term use of antibiotics in animals can directly produce toxic side effects on the animal body, reducing or gradually weakening immune function, making them more susceptible to disease, and some diseases that could previously produce lifelong immunity also recur frequently. Long-term addition of antibiotics to feed can also lead to a decrease in antigen quality, directly affecting immune function and having an adverse effect on vaccination.
While antibiotics treat animal diseases, they inevitably have certain toxic side effects, and long-term use will produce large numbers of drug-resistant bacteria in the animal body. When humans eat the meat of these animals, not only does the residual antibiotics in their bodies transfer to the human body, but the drug-resistant strains produced in the animals' bodies are also transmitted to humans, and humans have almost no way to guard against this. It has now been proven that the portion of antibiotics added to feed that is not fully absorbed in the intestinal tract is excreted in the feces of livestock and poultry, polluting the atmosphere, water sources, soil and so on, and bringing adverse effects on the human living environment.
While antibiotics kill and inhibit pathogenic microorganisms in the animal body, they inevitably also affect the growth of beneficial bacterial flora in the body. Long-term and large-scale use will cause an imbalance of the bacterial flora in the body and destroy the microecological balance. As far as the individual is concerned, antibiotics destroy the membrane flora of the digestive tract, and exogenous pathogenic bacteria then take the opportunity to invade, causing superinfection.
When adding antibiotics to feed, the amount added should be strictly controlled. Some farmers arbitrarily increase the added amount in order to ensure efficacy; this not only increases production costs and raises the drug resistance of pathogens, but also brings environmental pollution.
Strictly control the duration of medication. After a certain antibiotic has been used for a period of time, some surviving pathogenic bacteria develop resistance to that antibiotic. Controlling the duration of medication can effectively limit the residual amount of the drug in livestock and poultry products and improve the safety of meat food.