Letters to the Editor
Saving farm animals from antibiotics abuse
Thursday, 21 April 2022
Antibiotics and other chemicals are widely used in Bangladesh to fatten cattle. This practice gets more popular among cattle farmers three to four months ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. They remain busy making their cattle healthy and fat by injecting antibiotics. But consumption of antibiotic-treated beef and poultry birds and their products can cause serious harm to human health.
Overuse and misuse of antibiotics in animals and humans is contributing to the rising threat of antibiotic resistance. Some types of bacteria that cause serious infections in humans have already developed resistance to most or all of the available treatments, and there are very few promising options in the research pipeline.
So, strict measures should be taken by the authorities concerned to stop the abuse of antibiotics when it comes to the animals in agriculture. Different agricultural organisations should intensify activities to dissuade farmers from overusing or abusing antibiotics.
Abu Bokkar Siddique,
Student of Dhaka University, Dhaka,
abubokkar241@gmail.com