FARMING AND THE RISE OF SUPERBUGS

Antibiotics save lives but unless farmers stop overusing them on animals, scientists warn they could become useless, triggering a global health crisis. Caroline Stocks finds out how British farmers are taking action

- Caroline Stocks

Antimicrobial medicines are vital for protecting humans and animals from bacterial and viral infections, but their widespread use is creating an enemy that experts say could be the biggest threat to health the world has ever seen.

The rise of the 'superbug' - bacteria, viruses or fungi that are resistant to antibiotics and other medications - could put millions of lives at risk each year as infections become untreatable, scientists warn. The threat is already a reality for many: in 2019, some 1.2 million people died around the world as a direct result of drug-resistant infections, while antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was linked to a further three million deaths.

In the UK, Professor Dame Sally Davies, England's former chief medical officer, has warned that, if left unchecked, superbugs could make the Covid pandemic "look minor". Unless the issue is properly tackled within the next 10 years, she grimly predicts, resistance will kill more people than the effects of climate change.

While work is being done to develop alternative treatments to antibiotics, such as viruses that kill bacteria and gene-editing technology, experts including Sally Davies warn the process is too slow. To make an immediate difference, they say the world needs to make strides in reducing the use of antimicrobials, starting with the largest user of antibiotics: the livestock industry.

GROWING DEMAND

About two-thirds of the world's antibiotics are used in animal agriculture, and the industry's use of them is predicted to grow even higher by 2030 as consumer demand for meat and milk in countries like China and India increases. When it comes to how the medicines are used on farms, however, the global picture is varied.