Fueling the pandemic crisis

Our new report reveals the long-term threat of factory farming to the health of humans, animals and the planet.

On factory farms, antibiotics are routinely used to prop up low animal welfare practices in order to prevent animals that are confined and stressed from getting sick as a result of the dismal conditions they live in.

There is ample science showing how antibiotic overuse on factory farms leads to antibiotic-resistant superbugs which spread to workers, the environment and into the food chain.

The problem at scale

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What are superbugs?

Antibiotic resistant bacteria — called “superbugs” — are emerging on farms from the overuse of antibiotics. The more exposure to antibiotics bacteria have, the more opportunity there is for them to develop resistance and become superbugs.

These superbugs are then entering our food chain and our environment and, when passed to people, make us less able to fight infections.

Around the world, antibiotic residues and superbugs are contaminating waterways and local environments around factory farms. This is a global issue, with contaminants entering our food crops, soil and waterways mostly unmonitored.

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Link to pandemics

Keeping large numbers of genetically uniform animals in overcrowded, confined conditions can lead to the emergence and spread of viruses with the potential to infect humans.

In 2020 the UN reported that agricultural intensification has been responsible for over 50% of infectious diseases from animals since 1940.

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What's the solution?

Despite the damage to animals, people and the planet, factory farms continue to overuse antibiotics to prevent disease or to promote fast growth amongst stressed animals. This has to end.

We need to reserve antibiotics to treat individual sick animals. The World Health Organization recommends a reduction in antibiotics used in factory farmed animals. This is critical for human health.

We need to stop factory farming, produce fewer animal products and make all remaining farm animal production high-welfare.

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What do consumers think?

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Over 15,700 people were surveyed across 15 countries in the poll by Flood and Partners to gain an understanding of their knowledge and attitude towards antibiotic use in farming, antimicrobial resistance, and pandemic risk from farm animals. People were surveyed in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the UK, and the United States. 

On average across countries, people thought about 52% of antibiotics were used in farming. Many people expressed “shock” and “concern” upon learning the actual number is over 75%.

Whose responsibility is this?

When asked whose responsibility it is to address the problem of antibiotic overuse, 69% of respondents said the government should do more and 71% said the industry should do more to address this problem.

When asked specifically what governments should do, respondents said: monitor and report on use of antibiotics on farms, monitor and report on pollution from farms, strengthen animal welfare laws for farm animals, and restrict the use of antibiotics in farm animals.

What's the situation in the UK?

In the UK the use of antibiotics in farming accounts for around 30% of all British antibiotic use. The good news is that overall farm antibiotic use is falling, with a 50% decrease between 2014 and 2018, and the use of antibiotics as growth promoters is illegal in the UK (banned by the EU in 2006). However, more work still needs to be done.

For example, it is currently legal in the UK to routinely give antibiotics to whole herds of healthy animals in order to prevent disease and livestock may even be given antibiotics classed as ‘critically important’ for humans. However, if welfare conditions for farmed animals were improved – if they had more space and better living conditions – then they would be less vulnerable to diseases and infections, reducing the need for farmers to use antibiotics.

And it’s not just how the UK farming industry uses antibiotics which is important; the UK currently imports more meat and dairy than it produces so how other countries use antibiotics in farming also matters. Unless the UK has clear and robust import standards, Brexit could open up trade with lots of other countries which have significantly higher antibiotic use, including the USA where antibiotic use in farming is five times higher than the UK.

So, while UK farmers are making progress in reducing their use of antibiotics, we still need to:

  • End the routine preventative use of antibiotics for farm animals
  • Stop using antibiotics which are of critical importance to human health in farming
  • Raise the welfare conditions of farm animals so that antibiotics are only used when animals are genuinely sick
  • Ensure that imports meets British standards in terms of welfare, including low antibiotic use.

Take this quiz to test your knowledge about antibiotic use in farming

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