Post Antibiotics II

I’ve brought this one up before. Check out this post if you missed it. Bacteria can outrun us in the race of evolution, with a new generation every 20 minutes, developing resistances to antibiotics is just a matter of time for them. That time has been shrinking for decades. We could be headed for a post antibiotic world.

Before antibiotics, five women died out of every 1,000 who gave birth. One out of nine people who got a skin infection died, even from something as simple as a scrape or an insect bite. Three out of ten people who contracted pneumonia died from it. Ear infections caused deafness; sore throats were followed by heart failure.

There is definitely more to the story than the direct human deaths though. Large parts of our modern agriculture practices are based on the wide spread use of antibiotics.  Most of the meat in the super markets is raised with antibiotics. The confinement farms for pigs and cows that I live near routinely dose the animals with “preventative” antibiotics so they’ll survive the cramped and crowded conditions. Seafood raised in farms gets antibiotics. Since 80% of the antibiotics sold in the US goes to agriculture uses, it’s not far fetched to think the resistances could appear there first.

How many animals would need to die before the cost per pound got too high for most people to afford? How many times could a farmer lose entire buildings full of animals before they couldn’t afford to replace them? Not many.

You really need to be protecting yourself from these breeding grounds for resistant bacteria. They spread using multiple vectors. Resistant bacteria move from animals to humans in groundwater and dust, on flies, and via the meat those animals get turned into. You can buy meat from farms that don’t use antibiotics, often these are pastured or grass fed animals. Or raise or hunt your own.

Treat your meat like it’s carrying deadly bacteria, because it likely is. Be careful with it in the fridge and with your kitchen utensils and with the temperature of the final dish. I always roll my eyes at him, because I’m a cook by touch sort of gal, but hubby is constantly reminding me to use our meat thermometer and check the temp of our meat before I serve it. After reading up some more on this subject, I’ve resolved to never roll my eyes at him again. Well, about the meat temperature anyway.

Deadly bacterias know no borders or fairness. A cut from a rosebush could spell your end if it happens to let in some resistant bacteria. Your food supply could be in danger of disappearing to an ambitious bug. Keep this one on your radar folks and make sure you are protecting yourself as much as you can.

– Calamity Jane

Don’t forget about my challenge! You’ve got this weekend to pull it together. http://www.shtfblog.com/calamitys-challenge/