Chanel Mann
In a recent study done in the Environmental Technology & Innovation Journal, an important and often forgotten issue was discussed, antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance was responsible for 5 million deaths throughout the world in 2019, and that number is expected to increase to 10 million deaths by 2050. A big contributor to this issue is the overuse and lack of dose control on antibiotics causing the amount of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to grow. The article does a great job of summing up the concern “The presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes poses a growing threat impacting the effectiveness of treatments for infectious diseases.”(Minh et al., 2024,)
Causes
There are many contributors to this issue but the main one the article focuses on is the overuse of antibiotics in livestock. You may have heard of Salmonella and E.coli as these are the most commonly known antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Salmonella can be found in pig and poultry manure, but also in these animal’s wastewater. Humans can be exposed to these bacteria in two ways, indirect pathways and direct pathways. Indirect pathways are essentially the food chain, by eating these animals treated with the antibiotics, we are putting ourselves at risk of prolonged exposure to these antibiotics, making them less effective as the bacteria continues to evolve. A direct pathway affects mainly farmers and agricultural workers having constant exposure to the animal’s manure and wastewater. The USA, European Union, China, and Japan have recognized this issue and reduced the use of certain antibiotics in their livestock, however, more needs to be done as 2.8 million cases of antibiotic-resistant infections were reported in the USA in 2019 causing 23,000 deaths (CDC, 2019.)

Problems
We all get sick from time to time and rely on antibiotics to get better, however, the antibiotics given to livestock even while they are healthy are the same ones given to us to treat our infections, causing the bacteria to grow a resistance against it and making it ineffective at treating us while we’re sick. Not only are meat eaters affected by this issue but also vegans and vegetarians as vegetables can also become contaminated through untreated manure as fertilizer and contaminated water being used to irrigate the vegetables. E.coli makes up 52-65% of outbreaks from food contamination in the USA that causes gastroenteritis in humans.
Solutions
Although this information can be alarming to hear, there are solutions. Synthetic antibiotics can be used as an alternative as they’re designed to reduce the bacteria from forming a resistance against them, however, these are more costly than regular antibiotics. More countries must ban and restrict the use of antibiotics in livestock, create a more hygienic environment for the livestock, ensure proper treatment of all wastewater and manure before its release into the environment, and buy meat that is antibiotic-free if possible.
Why You Should Care
This issue has serious impacts on human health and the overuse of these antibiotics can cause us to develop resistant genes making it harder for us to get treatment when exposed to these bacteria. Antibiotic resistance affects everyone on earth and is an issue that needs to be addressed appropriately, there is no escaping this issue and we are being exposed to these hazards every day. Once these genes develop there is nothing that can be done to undo it, this means we must take proactive measures to ensure it does not get any worse. To learn more on how you can protect yourself, click here.