Mind in the Medicine

              As a parent you know that there’s always that one kid that goes to school with the sniffles, or even head lice and before you know it your kid is itching their head or sniffling too, which is why when you send your child to daycare or school even you pretty much bank on them getting sick at some point. The exact same things happen every day in midst of livestock production. Livestock undergo the same exposures much like children in day care and/or school settings. Not only are livestock environments as a whole changing, but also a variety of factors within the environment are always changing which means that the animals are consistently exposed to new germs regularly. Immune systems are capable of constant change and evolution in order to protect us from new germs and ever-changing environments, but they can’t protect us from everything. There are certain stressors and exposures to germs that occur regularly in livestock production such as comingling, location changes, diet changes, shared water, etc. In order to cope with and nurse the animals utilized in livestock production back to health, producers utilize various antibiotics just as parents utilize for their children when they come up sick.

                A common gap in the communication between consumer and producer in livestock production is that antibiotics are overused and used without a real purpose. Antibiotics are expensive and thus why the idea of administering antibiotics to livestock without a direct reason/intent is a silly concept. Antibiotics are a way to ensure quality of life for the animals within the production system is achieved and a way to prevent death loss from treatable illnesses as well. Taking away antibiotics for fear of antibiotic resistance in humans due to the belief that there is a residue in their meat products neglects a lot of the facts involved in the process. There exist very strict guidelines set forth by the FDA when it comes to the use of antibiotics in livestock production. Every medication is categorized according to its classification and active ingredient and from there is analyzed and a specific withdrawal period is set for that particular antibiotic. To put this into application, say that a certain antibiotic has a withdrawal period of 45 days and is given to an animal, meaning that before the animal can be harvested for meat production it must be off of the antibiotic for 45 days to flush it from its system. Meaning that there would be a month and a half window in order for the medication to be out of the animal’s system. The withdrawal periods are formed individually in order to ensure and protect against the idea of antibiotic resistance coming from your meat products. A little known fact on the use of livestock antibiotics is that most of the antibiotics used in livestock diets are not frequently used in human medicine. One of the most widely used antibiotic classifications in livestock is Ionophores, which are actually never used in human medicine, leaving no crossover between human medicine and animal production. The use of antibiotics within livestock production is put into place in a safe and regulated manner in order to ensure the safety of all parties. Nobody wants to consume meat products from sick animals, making the use of antibiotics the merger to the production of viable meat. As a consumer it is important to understand the documentation and responsibility placed upon the producer when they utilize antibiotics. One must understand the impacts and responsibility we have to animal health as well as understand the alternatives if they are no longer allowed to use antibiotics due to misconceptions.