Talking Points: The Overuse Of Antibiotics

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Four Minnesota agencies have announced a united effort to reign in the overuse of antibiotics. It's called the Minnesota One Health Stewardship.

The overuse of antibiotics is leading to the development of new strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control estimates 23,000 deaths and 2 million illnesses are caused by strains of antibiotic bacteria each year.

The five-year initiative announced late last week is being led by not just the Minnesota Department of Health, but by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Board of Animal Health.

Some of the efforts will go towards doctors making sure they are not overprescribing. There are also efforts aimed at patients, urging them not to pressure their doctors into prescribing antibiotics.

There are warnings for farmers and consumers, too.

The use of antibiotics in livestock feed to make animals bigger has been widespread for years. Public health officials now believe when humans eat meat from animals who are consuming antibiotic feed, resistant bacteria can get passed from animals to humans.

Dr. Ed Ehlinger, the Minnesota Commissioner of Health, was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning.

"Over the last 10 years, we have seen an increase in organisms that are resistant, and, just in the last year, we had an organism identified that was resistant to the last antibiotic that we have available," Ehlinger said. "So, it's one of those things that is not in the future, it's here now."

New federal regulations restricting the use of antibiotics in livestock feed are set to go into effect by the end of this year. But there are questions about how those restrictions can be enforced.