North Carolina's hog farms have threatened the state's water supply and fouled the air. Now these factory-like pork production centers, with their overuse of unnecessary antibiotics, are endangering the health of North Carolinians in a less obvious but still dangerous way.
North Carolina hog farms lead the nation in the overall use of antibiotic feed additives, according to a study released recently by Environmental Defense, an advocacy group. This puts North Carolinians who work on, and live near, the farms at increased risk of exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. And that's not good.
It surprises many people to learn that antibiotics, which help humans fight disease, can also foster super-strong bacteria against which there are no effective weapons. When misused, antibiotics weed out the weakest bacteria, leaving only the strongest to multiply. This is how super strains of bacteria develop.
When a new strain of bacteria mutates and infects humans and animals, existing antibiotics may not be able to kill it. There is real concern in medical circles that the abuse of antibiotics in the United States is leading to the mutation of bacteria that will not be stoppable.
The Environmental Defense report says that use of antibiotic feed additives is widespread in the state, not because animals are sick but because farmers put the animals in crowded, stressful conditions that could lead to sickness. Farmers also use the antibiotics, the advocacy group said, to spur more rapid growth in the animals.
North Carolina's hog-waste lagoons have already spoiled the air in many parts of Eastern North Carolina. And overflowing lagoons during unusually heavy rains and hurricanes have spilled waste into rivers and killed fish. Now the overuse of these antibiotics is placing the general health in jeopardy. Farm workers face greater risk from the antibiotic-resistant bacteria and thus are capable of spreading any resulting diseases to a wider population. Also, the resistant bacteria can get into the groundwater.
The hog industry isn't alone. Other livestock industries, namely poultry and beef, do the same. The hog industry, however, appears to create the biggest threat for North Carolina.
In the two decades since factory hog farms began developing in North Carolina, the hog industry has demonstrated that it will push environmental limits as far as possible to maximize profits. Now it is threatening the public health with the irresponsible use of antibiotics.
The price of a pound of bacon may someday have to be recalculated to include society's inability to fight infection.Winston-Salem Journal (NC)
