Drugs given to farm animals ‘fuelling rise of superbugs’

FARMERS must stop feeding their animals huge quantities of antibiotics, the chief medical officer has warned.

Dame Sally Davies said international farming practices are creating superbugs which will one day kill more people than terrorism.

Imported meat and fish often comes from animals that have eaten their weight in antibiotics, she added.

The more antibiotics are used the more resistant bacteria become to them. Superbugs are breeding rapidly, with germs evolving so that effective drugs become useless.

A recent study by Bristol University found 48 per cent of youngsters in Britain with a common bladder complaint were carrying germs resistant to ampicillin, a drug used to treat a variety of illnesses.

Half of the antibiotics used in this country go to animals. Experts fear farms are breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The problem is worse abroad, where antibiotics are given to animals to promote weight gain.

Using antibiotics for growth was banned in the EU in 2006, but with much of Britain’s meat and fish imported from outside the EU, people are eating food from animals fed large quantities of the drugs.

Speaking at the Royal Society in London, Dame Sally described anti- biotic resistance as a ‘growing and very severe problem’.

She said: ‘If you have a farmed salmon from the [US] it has eaten its weight in antibiotics before it comes to your plate because they just tip antibiotics into the feed. It happens with chickens in many countries ... we have a massive reservoir of antibiotic residence in these animals.’

Preventing antibiotic resistance will become ‘a daily grind’ if we do not tackle the problem, she added.

Dame Sally has repeatedly warned that over-use of antibiotics risks creating a ‘public health catastrophe’.

Her message has gained traction at the highest levels. David Cameron has warned superbugs could send medicine ‘back to the dark ages’.

Earlier this month Chancellor George Osborne said antibioticresistant bacteria will cause 10 million deaths a year worldwide by 2050 - more than cancer.

Catherine McLaughlin, the chief animal health adviser at the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), said: ‘The NFU recognises the concerns about growing resistance to antibiotics.

‘This is largely attributed to human medical use. However, resistance is a threat in animals too.’

She said farmers were committed to tackling the issue and had taken steps to do so such as restricting use of critically important antibiotics for human health despite a lack of resistance found in livestock.

‘Growing and very severe problem’