Antibiotic Resistance and Animal Welfare: A Shared Challenge

Antibiotic resistance threatens both human and animal health globally. The relationship between agricultural antibiotic use, resistance development, and animal welfare reveals how these challenges are fundamentally interconnected.

Key Facts

The WHO estimates antibiotic resistance causes 700,000 human deaths annually, projected to rise to 10 million by 2050 without intervention
Agricultural use accounts for approximately 73% of global antibiotic consumption, with growth promotion and routine prevention as primary uses
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria from livestock can transfer to humans through food, environmental contamination, and direct contact
Animals suffering from antibiotic-resistant infections experience prolonged illness because effective treatments are unavailable or delayed
Reducing agricultural antibiotic use in the EU following the 2006 ban on growth promoters led to significant resistance reduction in some bacterial populations
The One Health approach recognizes that human, animal, and environmental health are interconnected and must be addressed together to tackle antibiotic resistance

Welfare Considerations

Antibiotic resistance connects human and animal welfare in ways that demand integrated solutions. When antibiotics lose effectiveness due to resistance, both humans and animals lose access to treatments for previously manageable infections. A cow with antibiotic-resistant mastitis, a pig with resistant pneumonia, or a dog with resistant urinary tract infection experiences prolonged suffering because effective treatment options are limited or absent. The welfare imperative — maintaining effective antibiotics for treating genuinely sick animals — requires reducing prophylactic and growth promotion use that drives resistance without providing individual welfare benefit. This welfare argument for antibiotic stewardship complements the public health argument, creating a powerful case for regulatory reform that serves both human and animal interests simultaneously.

What You Can Do

Choose animal products from producers with documented low antibiotic use to reduce your contribution to resistance pressure
Advocate for complete bans on agricultural antibiotic use for growth promotion in all markets, not just those where bans already exist
Support research into antibiotic alternatives including vaccines, probiotics, and phage therapy that maintain animal health without driving resistance
Engage with the One Health framework through Global Health Security Agenda and Fleming Fund programs working on integrated human-animal-environment antibiotic stewardship