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The Ultimate Superbug Is Resistant to ALL Antibiotics and Claimed Its First Victim In U.S.

  • January 17, 2017

A superbug resistant to all antibiotics has killed its first American, an elderly woman infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae after a trip to India. She’d been hospitalized in India numerous times for a broken femur, where it’s believed she acquired the virus. Her death highlights the growing concern that antibiotic-resistant pathogens are spreading around the world, Mother Jones reported.

While antibiotic overuse in humans is a player in antibiotic resistance, a major cause of this devastating problem is the proliferation of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which use antibiotics to fight infections in the cramped CAFO quarters as well as to fatten up the animals. With 62 percent of the antibiotics used in animals for food production deemed “medically important” for human health, the threat of antibiotic-resistant disease is one of the biggest health threats facing the globe.

Unfortunately, despite farmers and food producers pledging to reduce or stop antibiotics use, a new report finds that sales of antibiotics for use on farms are going up. Eighty percent of the antibiotics used in the U.S. are used by CAFOs., with many added to feed as a matter of course just to make animals grow faster on less food.

While CAFOs promote antibiotic-resistant disease, traditional, regenerative farming practices combat it. These traditional farmers have diversified farms where pigs, hens and cattle are raised together in a sustainable way, with antibiotics used only to combat active infections.

You can help stop this insanity by supporting local farmers and buying only wholesome grass-fed beef and other free-ranging, organically raised meats, including chicken and dairy products.