<http://www.alternet.org/story/145068/how_factory_farms_are_pumping_americans_full_of_deadly_bacteria_and_pathogens>
By Kathy Freston
How Factory Farms Are Pumping Americans Full of Deadly Bacteria and Pathogens
January 12, 2010 |
We're getting sicker and sicker, thanks to gruesome conditions in
animal agriculture nationwide.
After reading www.BirdFluBook.org [3], by Dr. Michael Greger, I was
stunned to realize the extent to which we have endangered our health
by allowing factory farms to flourish and produce 99 percent of the
meat, dairy and eggs we eat. Not only are dangerous flu viruses
mutating because of these concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs), but we are also being exposed to some other very serious
bacteria and pathogens. Things have gotten out of hand in our food
production, especially in the livestock sector.
In Part I of my interview [4] with Dr. Greger, he explained the
growing potential of deadly flu viruses. In Part 2 of the interview,
we discuss E. coli, salmonella and other worrisome pathogens.
Kathy Freston: Where does E. coli come from and how does it get into
food? Why is it often found on vegetables?
Michael Greger: E. coli is an intestinal pathogen. It only gets in
the food if fecal matter gets in the food. Since plants don't have
intestines, all E. coli infections-in fact all food poisoning-comes
from animals. When's the last time you heard of a person getting
Dutch elm disease or a really bad case of aphids? People don't get
plant diseases; they get animal diseases. The problem is that because
of the number of animals raised today, a billion tons of manure are
produced every year in the United States-the weight of 10,000
Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Dairy cow and pig factories often
dump millions of gallons of putrefying waste into massive open-air
cesspits, which can leak and contaminate water used to irrigate our
crops. That's how a deadly fecal pathogen like E. coli O157:H7 [5]
can end up contaminating our spinach. So regardless of what we eat,
we all need to fight against the expansion of factory farming in our
communities, our nation and around the world.
KF: What percentage of the population gets hit by the bacteria? How
many of them die? Could that number increase?
MG: While E. coli O157:H7 remains the leading cause of acute kidney
failure in U.S. children, fewer than 100,000 Americans get infected
every year, and fewer than 100 die. But millions get infected with
other types of E. coli that can cause urinary tract infections (UTIs)
that can invade the bloodstream and cause an estimated 36,000 deaths
annually in the United States.
KF: We only occasionally hear of the very few fatal E. coli cases; is
it really a widespread problem?
MG: When medical researchers at the University of Minnesota took more
than 1,000 food samples from multiple retail markets, they found
evidence [6] of fecal contamination in 69 percent of the pork and
beef and 92 percent of the poultry samples. Nine out of 10 chicken
carcasses in the store may be contaminated with fecal matter. And
half of the poultry samples were contaminated with the UTI-causing E.
coli bacteria.
Scientists now suspect that by eating chicken, women infect their
lower intestinal tract with these meat-borne bacteria, which can then
creep up into their bladders. Hygiene measures to prevent UTIs have
traditionally included wiping from front to back after bowel
movements and urinating after intercourse to flush out any invaders,
but now women can add poultry avoidance as a way to help prevent
urinary tract infections.
KF: Are there any long-term problems for people who ingest E. coli
and have a bad day or two with diarrhea, or is the problem over once
out of the system?
MG: Last month the Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention
released a report [7] on the long-term consequences of common causes
of food poisoning. Life-long complications of E. coli O157:H7
infection include end-stage kidney disease, permanent brain damage
and insulin-dependent diabetes.
KF: Is E. coli a problem if the meat is cooked?
MG: With the exception of prions, the infectious agents responsible
for mad cow disease and the human equivalent-which can survive even
incineration at temperatures hot enough to melt lead-all viral,
fungal and bacterial pathogens in our food supply can be killed by
proper cooking. Why then do tens of millions of Americans come down
with food poisoning every year? Cross-contamination is thought to
account for the bulk of infections. For example, chicken carcasses
are so covered in bacteria that researchers at the University of
Arizona found [6] more fecal bacteria in the kitchen-on sponges and
dish towels, and in the sink drain-than they found swabbing the
toilet. In a meat-eater's house it may be safer to lick the rim of
the toilet seat than the kitchen countertop, because people aren't
preparing chickens in their toilets. Chicken "juice" is essentially
raw fecal soup.
KF: What goes on inside the body when a human ingests E. coli?
MG: Depending on the strain, the number of bacteria ingested, and the
immune status of the victim it can fail to cause any disease at all,
or in the worst cases, cause multi-system organ failure. Here's how
one mother described what E. coli O157:H7 did to her 3-year-old
daughter Brianna:
The pain during the first 80 hours was horrific, with intense
abdominal cramping every 10 to 12 minutes. Her intestines swelled to
three times their normal size and she was placed on a ventilator.
Emergency surgery became essential and her colon was removed. After
further surgery, doctors decided to leave the incision open, from
sternum to pubis, to allow Brianna's swollen organs room to expand
and prevent them from ripping her skin. Her heart was so swollen it
was like a sponge and bled from every pore. Her liver and pancreas
shut down and she was gripped by thousands of convulsions, which
caused blood clots in her eyes. We were told she was brain-dead.
KF: What a horror. Why is it deadly for some and not others?
MG: We think it has to do with the virulence of the bacteria-some
strains are deadlier than others-and the vulnerability of the host.
We're not sure why children under 5 years of age are at the highest
risk for dangerous complications, but that is certainly a finding
that has been consistent.
KF: Is factory-farmed meat more likely to get E. coli out into the
market, or is all meat (even free range) carrying that potential?
MG: In chickens, these bacteria cause a disease called
colibacillosis, now one of the most significant and widespread
infectious diseases in the poultry industry due to the way we now
raise these animals. Studies have shown infection risk to be directly
linked to overcrowding on factory chicken farms. In caged egg-laying
hens, the most significant risk factor for flock infection is hen
density per cage. Researchers have calculated that affording just a
single quart of additional living space to each hen would be
associated with a corresponding 33 percent drop in the risk of
colibacillosis outbreak. This is one of the reasons many efforts to
improve the lives of farmed animals is critical not only for animal
welfare, but for the health of humans and animals alike.
In terms of other infections like Campylobacter, the most common
cause of bacterial food poisoning in the United States, Consumer
Reports published an analysis [8] of retail chicken in its January
2010 issue. The majority of store-bought chickens were contaminated
with Campylobacter, which can trigger arthritis, heart and blood
infections, and a condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome that can
leave people permanently disabled and paralyzed. Comparing store
brands, 59 percent of the conventional factory-farmed chickens were
contaminated, compared to 57 percent of chickens raised organically.
So there might be a marginal difference, but the best strategy may be
to avoid meat completely. With the virtual elimination of polio, the
most common cause of neuromuscular paralysis in the United States now
comes from eating chicken.
KF: What about salmonella? Is it really a big deal, or is it just a
matter of an upset stomach?
MG: Salmonella kills more Americans than any other food-borne
illness. There is an epidemic of egg-borne food poisoning every year
in the United States. To this day, more than 100,000 Americans are
sickened annually by salmonella-infected eggs.
KF: Do we have more salmonella now than we did 25 or 50 years ago? If so, why?
MG: There was a time when our grandparents could drink eggnog and
children could eat raw cookie dough without fear of joining the
thousands of Americans hospitalized with salmonella infections every
year. Before the industrialization of egg production, salmonella only
sickened a few hundred Americans every year and Salmonella
enteritidis was not found in eggs at all. By the beginning of the
21st century, however, Salmonella enteritidis-contaminated eggs were
sickening an estimated 182,000 Americans annually.
There are many industrial practices that contribute to the alarming
rates of this disease. Most eggs come from hens confined in battery
cages, small barren wire enclosures affording these animals less
living space than a single sheet of letter-sized paper for virtually
their entire one- to two-year lifespan. Salmonella-contaminated
battery cage operations in the United States confine an average of
more than 100,000 hens in a single shed. The massive volume of
contaminated airborne fecal dust in such a facility rapidly
accelerates the spread of infection.
Factory farming practices also led to the spread of salmonella around
the world. Just as the feeding of dead animals to live ones triggered
the mad cow crisis, this same practice has also been implicated in
the global spread of salmonella. Once egg production wanes, hens may
be ground up and rendered into what is called "spent hen meal," and
then fed to other hens. More than half of the feed samples for farmed
birds containing slaughter-plant waste tested by the FDA were found
contaminated with salmonella. CDC researchers have estimated [9] that
more than a million cases of salmonella poisoning in Americans can be
directly tied to feed containing animal byproducts.
KF: What happens to the body when salmonella gets into the system?
MG: Within 12 to 72 hours of infection the fever, diarrhea and
abdominal cramps start. If the victim is lucky it's over within a
week. If not, the bacteria can burrow through the intestinal wall and
infect the bloodstream, seeding its way to other organs, including
the heart, bones and brain.
KF: Are there any long-term consequences from exposure?
MG: Thanks to salmonella infection one breakfast omelet can now
trigger persistent irritable bowel syndrome and what's called
reactive arthritis, which can become a debilitating lifelong
condition of swollen painful joints. Because salmonella can infect
the ovaries of hens, eggs from infected birds can be laid prepackaged
with the bacteria inside. According to research [10] funded by the
American Egg Board, salmonella can survive sunny-side-up, over-easy
and scrambled egg cooking methods.
KF: Would free-range meat or eggs make a difference in preventing it?
MG: There is evidence that eggs from cage-free hens pose less of a
threat. In the largest study [11] of its kind (analyzing more than
30,000 samples taken from more than 5,000 operations across two dozen
countries in Europe) cage-free barns had about 40 percent lower odds
of harboring the egg-related strain of salmonella.
KF: Can we get salmonella just from touching something tainted?
MG: Absolutely. In fact the infective dose for salmonella is as few
15-20 bacteria, and a single egg can be infected with hundreds. It's
important to understand where the egg comes out. Eggs emerge from the
hen's vent, which is kind of a joint opening for both her vagina and
anus, which explains the level of fecal contamination one can find on
eggs.
KF: Is it contagious?
MG: Person-to-person transmission of salmonella can occur when an
infected person's feces, unwashed from his or her hands, contaminates
food during preparation or comes into direct contact with another
person.
KF: Who is most at risk for serious illness or even death?
MG: More than half of all reported salmonella infections occur in
children, who are especially susceptible to serious complications.
Elderly and immunocompromised adults are also particularly
vulnerable. In the United States, though, some strains of salmonella
are growing dangerously resistant to up to six major classes of
antibiotics, due in large part to the irresponsible factory farming
practice of feeding millions of pounds of antibiotics to animals
every year as a crutch to combat the stressful and overcrowded
conditions of intensive animal agriculture systems. This puts
everyone at risk.
KF: What is the overall solution to prevent these dangerous pathogens
and bacteria?
MG: Over the last few decades new animal-to-human infectious diseases
have emerged at an unprecedented rate. According to the World Health
Organization, the increasing global demand for animal protein is a
key underlying factor.
Swine flu is not the only deadly human disease traced to factory
farming practices. The meat industry took natural herbivores like
cows and sheep, and turned them into carnivores and cannibals by
feeding them slaughterhouse waste, blood and manure. Then they fed
people "downer" animals-those too sick to even walk. Now the world
has mad cow disease.
In 2005 the world's largest and deadliest outbreak of a pathogen
called Strep. suis emerged, causing meningitis and deafness in people
handling infected pork products. Experts blamed the emergence on
factory farming practices. Pig factories in Malaysia birthed the
Nipah virus, one of the deadliest of human pathogens, a contagious
respiratory disease causing relapsing brain infections and killing 40
percent of people infected. Its emergence was likewise blamed
squarely on factory farming.
The pork industry in the U.S. feeds pigs millions of pounds of human
antibiotics every year just to promote growth in such a stressful,
unhygienic environment, and now there are these multi-drug-resistant
bacteria and we as physicians are running out of good antibiotic
options. As the UK's chief medical officer put it in his 2009 annual
report, "Every inappropriate use of antibiotics in agriculture is a
potential death warrant for a future patient."
In the short term we need to put an end to the riskiest practices,
such as extreme confinement-gestation crates and battery cages-and
the non-therapeutic feeding of antibiotics. We have to follow the
advice of the American Public Health Association to declare a
moratorium on factory farms and eventually phase them out completely.
How we treat animals can have global public health implications.
KF: Sounds like part of the solution is to gravitate toward a
vegetarian diet. Check outOne Bite At a Time [12]for information on
how to do it.
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