Animals Give Humans Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Recent findings show that strands of bacteria immune to modern medicine can be transmitted from farm animals to humans.


Nearly 80 percent of all antibiotic use in the United States is attributed to the factory farming, which sparked a long-running debate as to whether humans are in danger of contracting antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Contradictory to the food industry’s safety claims, a recent study shows that the resistant bacteria can be transmitted to people, reports The New York Times. NY State representative and microbiologist Louise Slaughter, who is a proponent of limiting antibiotics on farms, notes that the recent findings “ends any debate” on the matter. While previous research has shown that humans can contract the bacteria from animals, Keeve Nachman of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, told the news source that the evidence has never been this detailed.

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