skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Reid: No Prophylactic Antibiotics For Animals

play audio
Play

Monday, March 23, 2009   

Las Vegas, NV – Two million Americans are infected with drug-resistant bacteria every year, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and 90,000 of them die. Some experts blame the routine use of antibiotics on healthy farm animals.

Laura Rogers, project director of Human Health and Industrial Farming for the Pew Charitable Trusts, says doctors tell Nevadans not to take antibiotics unless they are actually sick, but when it comes to the farm animals people eat, most species get regular doses of antibiotics whether or not they are ill. She says that leads to an increase in staph infection and food-borne illness in humans.

"It matters to not just people in Nevada, but to everybody, because we are literally running out of antibiotics in this country. More and more bacteria are becoming resistant."

Now Congress is taking action. In the Senate, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev) is offering a measure, and in the House, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has introduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 (PAMTA), which amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to withdraw the use of seven classes of antibiotics vitally important to human health from use on factory farms unless animals or herds are sick with disease.

The farming industry disputes that there is a direct link between production practices and the increase in drug resistant bacteria.

Farm animals receive 70 percent of all antibiotics administered in the United States, according to Rogers. She adds that 25 percent of all strains of salmonella-type food poisoning are now drug resistant. That poses a risk to Nevadans, she warns.

"When you bring home that packet of chicken from the supermarket, it's got antibiotic-resistant salmonella, for instance. You have a chance of ingesting that and becoming ill, and then there's no life-saving antibiotic to help you."

Rogers advises Nevadans who live near livestock-producing farms to be particularly careful, because antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been found in wastewater.

More information is available at www.SaveAntibiotics.org.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021