New Report From World Animal Protection Says Improving Animal Welfare on Farms Is Key to Fighting Superbugs (image via World Animal Protection)
The world is facing a public health crisis because of antibiotic resistance. According to the United Nations, currently at least 700,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as "superbugs," can even be found in the food you eat.That's because antibiotics are vastly overused in raising farmed animals globally. Superbugs can start on farms and then enter our food chain and environment. When antibiotic resistant superbugs are passed to people, they make us less able to fight disease.
A new report from the global charity World Animal Protection has found superbugs in pork sold at Walmart stores in the United States. The report showed that 80% of the bacteria isolated from Walmart's pork products were resistant to at least one antibiotic, with significant resistance to classes of antibiotics considered highly important or critically important by the World Health Organization.
- Last year the charity released a report where pork products tested in five countries, including Spain and Thailand, also had superbugs resistant to antibiotics.
As of December 2018, in Canada, a veterinary prescription is required for antibiotics given to farm animals and antibiotic use in the livestock industry has decreased. However, administering antibiotics to farm animals for disease prevention is still commonplace.
The results from the Walmart pork testing come on the heels of a Canadian study from the Council of Canadian Academies warning of the potential rise in the percentage of bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotic treatments. The report states that overuse of antibiotics on farm animals raised for food contributes to this. It's estimated that about 400,000 Canadians are likely to die from drug-resistant infections by 2050.
One solution to help stop this and the overall global superbug crisis, would be to keep farm animals in better conditions.
"We know that raising animals in low welfare farms with crowding and unsanitary conditions makes the animals stressed and more vulnerable to illness. Mother pigs (sows) are still largely housed in cages where they cannot even turn around. That is why it is important to transition from these environments to higher welfare farms where animals have space to move and can live in an enriched environment. It's better for them and they are healthier and less prone to disease in the first place," says Lynn Kavanagh, Campaign Manager at World Animal Protection Canada.Farmers who raise pigs in better conditions, agree that the health is much better for the animals. In Canada, all producers are expected to eliminate the practice of confining mother pigs in gestation (pregnancy) crates by 2024 and the Retail Council Of Canada, which includes companies such as Walmart Canada, has committed to sourcing pork from mother pigs raised in group housing by 2022. However, Walmart Canada has still not made a public commitment to this on their website. World Animal Protection encourages them to do this as consumers expect companies to be transparent about their animal welfare commitments.
World Animal Protection is also calling on global supermarkets to improve the lives of pigs by only sourcing pork from high welfare farms. World Animal Protection's Raise Pigs Right campaign wants pigs to be freed from cages and not left to suffer in barren environments that promote disease and increase the risk of superbugs. Rather, these highly intelligent, social animals should be allowed to live in groups, with room to move around naturally.
"Change is possible and higher welfare systems are good for the health of animals and people and it's good for business too," says Kavanagh.
The Video:
Around the world pigs are raised in intensive farm conditions ,which includes overcrowding,unsanitary conditions and being kept in cages. This leads to increased stress and illness for the animals. However, some farmers choose to raise their animals in better conditions with space to move freely, have access to the outdoors, and have comfortable straw bedding, allowing pigs to simply be pigs. This video profiles one Canadian farmer doing just that.Notes:
World Animal Protection's report, US pork and the superbug crisis: how higher welfare farming is better for pigs and people, follows global testing conducted by the organization of Walmart pork products in Brazil. In December 2018, World Animal Protection released a global report on the results of pork samples tested for the presence of bacteria resistant to specific antibiotics. The project was prompted by research suggesting a link between low-welfare farming systems and overuse of antibiotics. Bacteria resistant to antibiotics considered most critically important to human health by the World Health Organization were found in samples sold by major supermarkets in Brazil, Spain and Thailand, including samples sold in Walmart stores in Brazil.Key Findings
Amongst the 32 batches of samples, 51 total isolates were detected: E. coli was detected in 14 (43.75%) batches; Enterococcus in 27 (84.38%) batches; Listeria in four (12.5%) batches; and Salmonella in six (18.75%) batches.Of the 32 batches tested, 30 (94%) were positive for at least one of the four bacteria.
- Twelve (37.5%) batches were positive for Enterococcus only;
- one (3%) batch was positive for Listeria only; and,
- one (3%) batch was positive for Salmonella only.
- eight (25%) were positive for both E. coli and Enterococcus;
- two (6%) were positive for Enterococcus and Salmonella;
- one (3%) was positive for E. coli and Listeria;
- two (6%) were positive for E. coli, Enterococcus, and Salmonella;
- one (3%) was positive for E. coli, Enterococcus, and Listeria; and,
- one (3%) was positive for all four bacteria.
Antibiotic resistance results by species
Enterococcus:Twenty-six (96.3%) of the Enterococcus isolates were resistant to at least one class of medically important antibiotics. The most common resistance was to lincosamides (lincomycin), streptogramins (quinupristin/dalfoprisitin), and/or tetracylines (tetracycline). All three classes are categorized as highly important.
Seventeen of those isolates (65.38%) were multi-drug resistant:
- Thirteen isolates were resistant to lincosamides, streptogramins, and tetracyclines.
- One isolate was resistant to lincosamides, streptogramins, and oxazolidinones.
- One isolate was resistant to lincosamides, streptogramins, tetracyclines, and macrolides.
- One isolate was resistant to lincosamides, quinolones, and nitrofuran derivates.
- One isolate was resistant to lincosamides, streptogramins, tetracyclines, amphenicols, macrolides, and aminoglycosides.
Listeria:
All four (100%) Listeria isolates present in the sample batches were resistant to lincosamides, which are listed as highly important.
One isolate (25%) was resistant to six total classes of antibiotics: lipopeptides, penicillins, streptogramins, macrolides, lincosamides, and glycopeptides.
Macrolides and glycopeptides are listed as HPCIAs.
Penicillins and lipopeptides are categorized as critically important.
Lincosamides and streptogramins are highly important.
Salmonella:
Two of the Salmonella isolates (33.33%) were resistant to one antibiotic class, while the rest of the isolates were pan-susceptible.
The two resistant isolates were resistant to quinolones, which are categorized as HPCIAs.
E. coli:
Nine E. coli isolates (64.29%) were resistant to at least one class of medically important antibiotic.
- Four (28.57%) were resistant to tetracyclines alone, and one (7.14%) was resistant to tetracyclines and sulfanomides.
- Another isolate (7.14%) was resistant to both tetracyclines and aminoglycosides.
Three E. coli isolates were multi-drug resistant:
- One (7.14%) was resistant to tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, and penicillins.
- One (7.14%) was resistant to tetracyclines, sulfanomides, aminogylcosides, and amphenicols.
- One (7.14%) was resistant to tetracyclines, sulfanomides, aminoglycosides, penicillins, macrolides, and cephalosporins (1st/2nd generation).
For further information, please access the full report here.SOURCE: World Animal Protection