The Clean Water Blog

Keeping antibiotics out of your water

Great news from Annapolis!

Maryland is poised to become the second state in the country to ban the routine use of antibiotics in farm animals. The Keep Antibiotics Effective Act has passed through both the House of Delegates and the Senate; now one of those chambers has to fully pass its counterpart’s bill by Monday.

Why do we care?

70% of medically-important antibiotics prescribed are for farm animals. Many are consumed by healthy animals just to prevent potential disease. Those antibiotics pass through the animals’ guts and make their way into our water. As bacteria are exposed to more and more antibiotics, only those who can survive a continual onslaught of antibiotics survive and reproduce. This water with antibiotic resistant bacteria enters our streams and rivers and is used to water crops, spreading these dangerous bacteria throughout our environment.

This bill to stop factory farms from overusing antibiotics keeps antibiotic-resistant superbugs from developing in our waterways.  We joined with the Fair Farms Campaign, other water advocates, and the health community to Keep Antibiotics Effective!