The amount of antibiotics consumed by livestock worldwide is almost double that used by humans, according to some estimates. In the United States, for instance, about 300 milligrams of antibiotics are used to produce every kilogram of meat and eggs. These drugs are administered not just to treat or to prevent infections. In many countries, they are used to help the animals to grow faster. This is an unsustainable situation. Since many farmers began giving antibiotics to livestock in the late 1940s, people have been infected with strains of bacteria that are resistant to those antibiotics.
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