Denmark Drastically Limits Antibiotics in Livestock: Here's Why

Antibiotics are most commonly used to treat livestock for two purposes: illness and subtherapeutic uses. It's the subtherapeutic use of antibiotics that started to really come under fire in the U.S. and most recently, was banned in Denmark. So, what exactly does subtherapeutic even mean?

Subtherapeutic use of antibiotics means using them for any use other than sickness, including fattening them up rapidly or to quell any sickness caused by cruel treatment or unhealthy living standards that could cause them to get sick in the future. Subtherapeutic use of antibiotics is under fire because scientists are finding that it causes the perfect breeding ground for drug resistant bacteria.

According to Scientific American:

The germs that survive are typically those that happen to bear genetic mutations for resisting the antibiotic. They then reproduce and exchange genes with other microbial resisters. Because bacteria are found literally everywhere, resistant strains produced in animals eventually find their way into people as well. You could not design a better system for guaranteeing the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Such data led Denmark to ban subtherapeutic dosing of antibiotics in livestock. At first farmers complained that the average weight of pigs was down as a result of the restrictions. But after a bit of experimentation Danish pig farmers started leaving sows and piglets together longer, which helped to increase size. They also cleaned stalls more vigorously and gave pigs more room to move. In the end, they were able to make up the difference. For those that argue that America is too big to make such a change, according to the article, Denmark is the largest exporter of pork in the world.

I wrote over at TreeHugger about the kinds of problems that can emerge if we're not careful. Like this deadly drug-resistant bacteria that's spreading to elderly patients in nursing and long-term care facilities in Los Angeles County, according to CBS Local Los Angeles. Today 350 cases have been counted, most found in the elderly population. It's called the CRKP bacteria and currently, it has no cure.

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