Antibiotic concerns
We had to use medicines in our barn for the first time since the cows came to us two years ago. Shaila Putri had a mild, latent mastitis that caused elevated cell concentration in the milk from one of her four dugs. A five-day treatment applied directly into the nipple helped, and Shaila Putri did not really suffer at all.
Inflammation occurs when bacteria from the skin or the environment gets in through the tract into the uterus and the normal uterine defense mechanisms are not able to destroy the bacteria. Shaila is a sensitive milk, eg. she is easily dripping milk on her dormitory, even between milking. When it is hot and with flies around, these drip bacteria are a risk factor and explain why this happened.
Mastitis is the most common illness in cows and the most common cause of young cows getting slaughtered. The symptoms range from fatal blood poisoning to mild, hidden infections. So we were lucky. Still, it was nasty inserting the antibiotic into the cow and pouring her milk down the drain for 14 days.
Resistance to antibiotics is a rapidly increasing problem. The root cause of this is the use of antibiotics in the uterus of high-produce cows, and lacing pigs' and chickens' feed with medicines in a preventive manner so that the slaughter animals do not get sick. Antibiotics are used to correct faults in cleanliness and the cramped spaces of production animals. For example, in the United States, it is completely everyday to feed cows with antibiotics (as well as hormones) daily with feed to keep mastitis away.
If we continue in this manner, by 2050 antibiotic-resistant bacteria will worldwide kill more people than cancer. In the EU countries, some 25,000 people die of infections that cannot be treated because the bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics.
The WHO classifies antibiotic resistance as an equal threat to mankind, in comparison to global terrorism or climate change.
If the current trend continues, the use of antibiotics will increase by 52% on livestock farms by 2030. Usage increases most in Asia. Production animals are given annually 130'000 tonnes of antibiotics, of which 78'000 tonnes in China.
In Europe the highest amount of medicines is used Spain, with 419 mg of medicines per kg of body mass. Next come Cyprus, Italy and Portugal. The lowest use is in Norway with 3.1 mg per kg, then come Iceland, Sweden and Finland. Finland's figure is 22 mg per kg. In these countries, medicines are not allowed for preventive use on animals and also not to compensate for deficiencies in the conditions, only to treat an identified illness.
Half of the antibiotics used in the world go to animals. In Finland the total amount of animal drugs used in the country is 13'500 kg per year.
The well-known hospital bacteria MRSA is especially found in pigs. The bacteria is easily transferred to pig keepers, and in poor kitchen hygiene situation the bacteria can transfer through the meat. The bacteria dies when cooked.
In Denmark, 88% of the pigs brought to slaughterhouses carry MRSA. The authorities of the country have marked the pig farmers into a risk group regarding hospital bacteria. A lot of meat is imported into Finland from Denmark. Of Finnish pigs, MRSA has been found in 6 cases out of 275 samples.
Antibacterially resistant bacteria has been found in every fifth chicken, in a sample taken in Finland. It is still the best figure in the EU. In the EU average, 57% of chicken meat contained these antibiotic-resistant ESBL bacteria.
When manure from animals treated by antibiotics is spread to the fields for fertilizing, the plants take antibiotics from the ground. So, there is a risk of antibiotic delivery also through crops.
Again, the problem could be solved by reducing the numbers of farm animals, at least abolition of intensive animal breeding for vigorous produce. And did you know that a cow's urine contains a substance that has an antibiotic-like effect. Maybe the cows already have a solution to this problem, let's hope so.