
	Take Action	News	Press Center	Search

Antibiotic Resistance Threatens Public Health

Doctors depend on antibiotics to treat illnesses caused by bacteria, from pneumonia to meningitis and other life-threatening infections. The effectiveness of many antibiotics has begun to wane, the legacy of decades of unnecessary overuse in both human medicine and agriculture.

Keep Antibiotics Working is a coalition of health, consumer, agricultural, environmental, humane and other advocacy groups with more than eleven million members dedicated to eliminating a major cause of antibiotic resistance: the inappropriate use of antibiotics in food animals.

For a general overview of the issue, see the Campaign's fact sheets: Antibiotic Resistance - An Emerging Public Health Crisis (an annotated version is also available) and Antibiotic Resistance and Animal Agriculture.

Personal Stories of Antibiotic Resistance

Kim's Story “I was shocked to learn that hog farmers who handle an abundance of antibiotics are a main carrier of MRSA. The idea that I brought this home to my family plagued me. I could not wait to return to work so I could alert everyone else to the dangers of this issue.” More...	Danielle's Story “Contaminated food and the poisoning that accompanies it doesn’t just hurt the individual who is sick, it hurts family as well as the wider community. For me, caring about food safety is caring about my grandfather, my friends and neighbors.” More...
Read more Stories

Share Your Experience

If you or a family member has been ill with an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection, please fill out the KAW Share Your Experience form. Your information will be completely confidential. Please keep in mind that we are unable to provide medical treatment or expertise to you at this time.

* Take Action!
Act now to keep antibiotics working today!

* March 15, 2013

Keep Antibiotics Working and other allied organizations urged President Obama to take leadership in reducing the amount of antibiotics used in American livestock production. Read the letter.

* March 14, 2013

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-25), the only microbiologist in Congress, today introduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA). The legislation is designed to stop the overuse of antibiotics on the farm- a practice that is accelerating the growth of antibiotic-resistance disease. KAW strongly supports this legislation.

* February 26, 2013

Representatives Henry Waxman and Louise Slaughter introduced legislation to provide better information on the amount and use of antibiotics and other antimicrobials given to animals raised for human consumption, H.R. 820, the Delivering Antimicrobial Transparency in Animals (DATA) Act.

* February 6, 2013

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) released data showing that continued high levels of antibiotics are used in animal agriculture. Read KAW's press release to learn more about what the data means and why strong action is needed.

* November 19, 2012

Keep Antibiotics Working and 37 other organizations responded to the Food & Drug Administration's request for comment on how to improve data collection & reporting around antimicrobial drug use in livestock. Read our comments.

* Stay informed
Join our FREE Email
Mailing List and receive monthly newsletters on the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture. Keep Antibiotics Working

Promote Your Page Too

Personal Stories of Antibiotic Resistance