by
ALEX DOMINGUEZ, Associated Press Writer
Delaware No. 1 in use of antibiotic feed, report finds
By ALEX DOMINGUEZ, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: BALTIMORE
Delaware uses more antibiotic feed additives per square mile than any other state, potentially placing residents who live near large farms at greater risk for exposure to antibiotic resistant bacteria, an environmental group said Wednesday.
About 187,000 pounds of antibiotic additives are used per thousand square miles in Delaware, nearly three times that of the next closest state, North Carolina, which led the nation in overall usage. Maryland was fourth in estimated usage per square mile at 44,467 pounds, according to the state-by-state assessment released by the advocacy group Environmental Defense.
In Delaware, the report said almost all the use was in Sussex County, where the state's huge poultry industry is based. A spokesman for a national poultry group disputed claims that residents near poultry farms are at greater risk.
The report said 90 percent of the additives are used in 23 states, a conclusion "that has important public health ramifications," co-author Rebecca Goldburg said.
The group said the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture is widely regarded as contributing to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten human health. Animals that received the antibiotics are not sick, but are given the medications to prevent diseases caused by crowded, stressful conditions or to promote faster growth, the authors said.
Antibiotic resistant bacteria that develop because of the additive use can infect farm workers and contaminate water, air and soil, Goldburg said.
The group's estimates were based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's most recent livestock census along with per-animal estimates of antibiotic feed-additive use by the Union of Concerned Scientists for broiler chickens, hogs and beef cattle.
The authors said UCS estimates were used because government statistics do not exist, and industry statistics are limited - combining pet and livestock use, for example.
Richard Lobb , a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said "the original estimates were guess work and to break down by state is guess work cubed."
Lobb said all antibiotics in animal production are "used safely and responsibly in accordance with all applicable federal regulations." Claims that those who live near large farms may be at greater risk are totally unsupported by scientific evidence, Lobb added.
Ellen Silbergeld, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the "report provides a sound basis for guiding our concerns that residents in these high use counties may be at greater risk for exposure."
Silbergeld, who was not involved in the report but participated in a teleconference to discuss the findings, said many farmers are contractually obligated by major producers to use antibiotic feeds supplied by these producers. Silbergeld and Environmental Defense declined to name specific producers.
The authors also called on Congress to pass a bill to phase out the use of medically important antibiotics as feed additives. In April, Environmental Defense joined the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, the Food Animal Concerns Trust and the Union of Concerned Scientists in filing a petition with the Food and Drug Administration urging the agency to ban seven classes of medically important antibiotics from use as feed additives.
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Environmental Defense report: http://www.ed.org/go/antibiotic.estimatesThe Associated Press State & Local Wire
