The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a report on antibiotic resistance, food, and food-producing animals. According to the report, individuals infected by antibiotic-resistant foodborne bacteria may develop symptoms that can be more severe and harder to treat. Furthermore, findings indicate that bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics when the drugs are given to people and/or animals who don’t require them.
The CDC has laid out an action plan in partnership with public health agencies at local and state levels to prevent infections caused by foodborne antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The plan includes the following:
- Tracking resistant infections and studying how resistance emerges and spreads;
- Detecting and investigating antibiotic-resistant outbreaks quickly to solve, stop, and prevent them;
- Determining the sources of antibiotic-resistant infections that are commonly spread through food and animals;
- Strengthening the ability of state and local health departments to detect, respond to, and report antibiotic-resistant infections;
- Educating consumers and food workers on prevention methods, including safe food handling, safe contact with animals, and proper hand washing; and
- Promoting the responsible use of antibiotics in humans and animals.
