Following Excerpt was taken from the article
"Scientists call for ban on antibiotic given to chickens which 'causes 280 deaths a year in Britain'"
A type of antibiotic passed between chickens and humans are to blame for 280 human deaths in Britain per year, according to a new study.
Billions of chickens are given antibiotics to treat E.coli bacteria but this has resulted in several strains of superbugs developing which are, when passed to humans, resistant to treatment.
Scientists have documented their findings in the Journal for Infectious Diseases and described the number of deaths as 'staggering'.
They believe that as many as 1,500 people die a year across Europe.
Infection rates of one particular strain known as G3CREC tripled between people and animals between 2007 and 2012.
The scientists used data from the Netherlands and concluded that there were 1,318 additional deaths across Europe.
'The number of avoidable deaths and the costs of healthcare potentially caused by third-generation cephalosporin use in food animals is staggering.
'Considering these factors, the ongoing use of these antimicrobial drugs... should be urgently examined and stopped, particularly in poultry, not only in Europe but worldwide.'
Richard Young, policy advisor at the Soil Association, said: 'This is the first detailed estimate to emerge of the human health consequences from the use of antibiotics in European agriculture.
'It indicates that large numbers of people die of resistant infections due to the over-reliance on antibiotics in intensive livestock farming.'
So, basically, chickens and other animals, are being treated with antibiotics as a 'precaution' in case they ever get infected with E. Coli. So, what is E. Coli and why is it harmful?
According to the Agricultural Division of the University of Arkensas:
"E. coli is a normal inhabitant of the intestinal tracts of
animals and is harmless as long as it is kept in check by other
intestinal bacteria (Barnes et al., 2003). When an imbalance occurs in
bacterial flora of the intestinal tract, E. coli may grow and
cause an outbreak of colibacilliosis. Chickens of all ages are
susceptible to colibacilliosis, but usually young birds are considered
more susceptible."
This tells us that normally, healthy chickens who receive healthy nutrition and are being taken care of in a proper manner, should not become infected with this 'colibacilliosis'. The E.Coli bacteria should do its function in their bowels, digesting stuff, just like it does with us humans, which is its job -- to have it break out and cause illness in the bodies of the chickens is not something normal, it is a result of the farming industry that somehow is not doing its job in raising these chickens that eventually end up on our plates.
"E. coli is normally present in the birds and
the disease can be triggered by numerous events .
Immunosuppressive diseases such as Infectious Bursal Disease, Marek’s
disease, and Chicken Anemia may increase susceptibility to E. coli infection. However, other countless events or diseases can also increase susceptibility. For instance, an E. coli
infection may appear if birds do not have regular access to feed or if
their litter is too wet or if they are exposed to another disease.
Generally, anything that causes stress in the bird may provide E. coli with the opening it needs.
Once on E. coli outbreak happens, conditions
may be right for the disease to “feed on itself,” and affect the entire
flock. For example, if a significant number of birds develop diarrhea,
litter moisture can increase, infecting more birds and, in turn, causing
more wet litter. Consequently, the best approach to E. coli infections is prevention rather than control."
So, the fact that the farming industry is using anti-bacteria to kill the infectious form of E. Coli before it has even formed, when this infection can in fact be prevented by simply taking good care of the chickens, shows us that they're definitely not planning on doing the latter. After all, it's soooo easy to pump these chickens full with anti-bacteria that give the farmers the freedom to cut back on staff that shovel the chicken-poo or that keep the chicken-feed dry and healthy for the chickens or to reduce the space that the chickens have to move in and so drive up production
--- the anti-bacteria will kill the diseases that the chickens will develop as a result of the stress they experience from living in these unlivable (for any normal life-form that isn't hopped up on drugs) conditions.
Another point to consider in how the anti-biotics given to the chickens is to mask the abusive environment and practices they endure in factory farming, is that to give this anti-biotics to the chickens is not a decision made lightly. As we can read in the above article, the anti-biotics in the chicken-meat that we eat, gets into our bodies and will have a very harmful effect.
According to Medical News Today:
"There is concern worldwide that antibiotics are being overused.
Antibiotic overuse is one of the factors that contributes towards the
growing number of bacterial infections which are becoming resistant to
antibacterial medications. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention), outpatient antibiotic overuse in the USA is a particular problem in the Southeast.
According to the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and
Control), antibiotic resistance continues to be a serious public health
threat worldwide. In a statement issued in 19th November 2012, the ECDC
informed that an estimated 25,000 people die each year in the European Union from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections."
Now, the reason why antibiotics over-use will actually enhance the risk of becoming ill and/or dying, is that:
"Antibiotics stop working because bacteria come up with various ways of countering these actions, such as:
- Preventing the antibiotic from getting to its target
When you really don't want to see someone, you might find yourself
doing things like hiding from them or avoiding their phone calls.
Bacteria employ similar strategies to keep antibiotics at bay. One
effective way to keep a drug from reaching its target is to prevent it
from being taken up at all. Bacteria do this by changing the permeability
of their membranes or by reducing the number of channels available for
drugs to diffuse through. Another strategy is to create the molecular
equivalent of a club bouncer to escort antibiotics out the door if it
gets in. Some bacteria use energy from ATP to power pumps that shoot antibiotics out of the cell.
- Changing the target
Many antibiotics work by sticking to their target and preventing it
from interacting with other molecules inside the cell. Some bacteria
respond by changing the structure of the target (or even replacing it
within another molecule altogether) so that the antibiotic can no longer
recognize it or bind to it.
- Destroying the antibiotic
This tactic takes interfering with the antibiotic to an extreme. Rather
than simply pushing the drug aside or setting up molecular blockades,
some bacteria survive by neutralizing their enemy directly. For example,
some kinds of bacteria produce enzymes called beta-lactamases that chew up penicillin."
This means that humans that eat antibiotics infested meat will be less resistant if and when an infectious bacteria hits their immune system. Should, for example, the E.Coli bacteria that resides in the bowels find its way into the blood stream or god knows where else in the body that it doesn't belong and cause illness, it will have 'evolved' itself to be able to counter the antibiotics used by the human as prescribed by their doctors and medical advisers in the above described ways. And so other types of antibiotics will have to be found, and if they don't work, death ensues.
This regular antibiotics intake also cause the general functioning immune system to become weakened and this because:
"Antibiotics stop or interfere with a number of everyday cellular
processes that bacteria rely on for growth and survival, such as:
- crippling production of the bacterial cell wall that protects the cell from the external environment
- interfering with protein synthesis by binding to the machinery that builds proteins, amino acid by amino acid
- wreaking havoc with metabolic processes, such as the synthesis of folic acid, a B vitamin that bacteria need to thrive
- blocking synthesis of DNA and RNA"
It is not only these bacteria that rely on those everyday cellular processes for growth, it is EVERY cell in our body that relies on these processes for growth -- which means that if the antibiotics mess up these processes just to target and attack the growth of one bacteria, it is disrupting the entire function of the human body. That is also why, when you are prescribed antibiotics by your doctor, usually you only take them for a few weeks, that's how long it would take to kill that one harmful bacteria that was making you sick. The process is similar to spraying your entire house with pesticide to kill a few cockroaches, you're not only killing those few bugs, but every other life-form, good or bad - plus, you will not be able to live in your house for at least a month.
So, basically, taking antibiotics on a regular bases through meat ingestion, would be similar to constantly living in a house fumed with pesticides --- you'll start thinking that that continuous weak feeling in your legs is 'normal' and one day you'll just collapse without knowing why.
When our food industry is not feeding us anymore but in fact slowly but surely killing us with its practices, that should be an alarm going off telling us that something is seriously wrong here. And I mean, these practices isn't something that is generally covered up, many people know about this and it is a legal thing in the farming industry. The thing about this that is so alarming though, is why we failed to put two and two together - why did the medical industry, who must surely be aware of the harmful effects of antibiotics on the body, not raise the alarm?
And, why aren't chicken/meat-farmers educated enough to understand how what they do to their animals will effect their customers' health? After all, it's these people that are feeding us, so we are literally having to trust them with our lives to make decisions that are best for us.
Or is it that in a way they have no choice but to choose personal profit through producing things as cheap as possible over Life - because that is how our economic system is designed, where only the greedy and self-interested survive --- which means that at the end of the day, they simply don't give a fuck about what happens to their human customers who eat the meat, just like they don't give a fuck about the animals that they're pumping full of drugs in an attempt to keep them alive throughout their stay at the factory farm?
Aren't there laws that say that animals have to be treated well in the farming industry, laws that are supposed to counter abuse? But then, if there are laws that legalize these antibiotics-practices, how is that not an implicit approval of the abuse that would create the necessity for the antibiotics in the first place? I mean, isn't the way that our entire economic system is set up, making the abuse of animals and nature necessary - there's just no other way that the human can 'win' if he doesn't in some way abuse other life-forms to create the cheapest products, in the fastest way, with the least costs?
I mean, if there do exist laws that say it's illegal to feed healthy live-stock antibiotics, I'd say they're not working:
"In fact, up to 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States
go to healthy food animals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention all testified before Congress that there was a definitive
link between the routine, non-therapeutic uses of antibiotics in food
animal production and the crisis of antibiotic resistance in humans.
This position is supported by the American Medical Association, the
American Academy of Pediatrics, and other leading medical groups who all
warn that the injudicious use of antibiotics in food animals presents a
serious and growing threat to human health because the practice creates
new strains of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria." (PEW Campain on Human Health and Industrial Farming)
I assume we can all agree that these are, to say the least, Evil practices taking place in our food industry - and not even that well covered up. And the sad thing about it is that we all allow it to take place. When we hear or read about this, it's like we shrug our shoulders and go 'yeah, well, what can we do about it - I'll just eat less meat', as if we can trust anything else that's on the shelves of our supermarkets to be good and healthy for us. In an economic system that is based on personal victory, gain, power and success above everything else, and abusive situations, even children starving to death, is justified by the principle of 'Competition' - it's impossible to trust anything made by the hands of Man anymore.
At what point did it become normal for us to give up on our own life like this? To just roll over and die? Because that's exactly what we're doing by letting atrocious acts like unhealthy and abusive industrial farming take place -- because, this isn't just a matter of 'competition' between farmers/business-men like in a game of monopoly where 'anything goes' to get the prize, this is our livelihoods we're talking about. And from that perspective, the only perspective that is REAL, this situation is Not Acceptable -- and we should really consider re-thinking the function of our Government when we have laws that say that it is.
Investigate the
Desteni Organization and the
Equal Life Foundation --- we stand for a reinstatement of Dignity within the Society of Man, through Redefining Competition from an excuse to Abuse to an endeavor of Human Greatness, where Life is Honored first and foremost. We stand for a
Living Income Guaranteed that will provide a platform of stability for the human to Re-educate itself into Understanding what it means to Live within a genuine care for Life.
Sources:
Scientists call for ban on antibiotic given to chickens which 'causes 280 deaths a year in Britain', The Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2384665/Scientists-ban-antibiotic-given-chickens-causes-280-deaths-year-Britain.html
E. Coli an Opportunist that Causes Enteritis, The Poultry Site
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/903/ie-coli-ian-opportunist-that-causes-enteritis
What Are Antibiotics? How Do Antibiotics Work?, Medical News Today
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/10278.php
