Antibiotics (used in livestock)
Antibiotics are medicines used to combat bacterial infections. Almost 70% of the antibiotics used in the US are given to livestock animals as a preventative measure against disease, not as a measure against an already acquired illness.
The non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock has lead to several strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria, including E. Coli and Salmonella. When these bacteria infect humans antibiotics are generally useless, leading to death in especially vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly as well as the immune compromised. The antibiotics used in the livestock also filter down when humans consume the animals.
