Antibiotic-Resistant Infections Will Kill 10 Million People Every Year by 2050

A recent study predicts that by 2050 about 10 million people will die a year as a result of antibiotic-resistant infections.

The primary cause? Factory farming.

“Since the 1970s, meat producers have been dosing livestock with regular, low doses of antibiotics, a recent article from Mother Jones reports. “For reasons not entirely understood, this regimen helps animals grow bigger.

Such practices are commonplace worldwide and growing. Global antibiotic consumption is slated to increase 67 percent by 2030. And even now it’s no small problem: eighty percent of the U.S. antibiotic supply is currently going to livestock.

“As antibiotic use skyrockets, experts expect that germs will evolve to resist them, the article continues. “That’s scary, considering that some of the same drugs we use on livestock are also our best defense against infections in humans. And suberbugs [sic], several recent studies have shown, can and do jump from animals to people.

If this continues, it’s likely we’ll see the development of new bacteria against which antibiotics are powerless. As a result, more people will succumb to related infections, resulting in millions of deaths a year in less than half a century.

Worried about antibiotic-resistant bacteria? Leave meat off your plate.

Visit ChooseVeg.com for more information on following a healthy and humane diet.