Hatching Superbugs
by The Daily Eye Team August 1 2014, 7:57 am Estimated Reading Time: 0 mins, 50 secsAt a time when chicken consumption is at an all time high in India, a study by Delhi non-profit Centre for Science and Environment shows poultry meat could be churning out robust microbes that can render all antibiotics ineffective In 1945, after receiving the Nobel Prize for his chance discovery of miracle cure, penicillin antibiotic, Alexander Fleming issued a warning. “There is the danger that the ignorant man may easily under-dose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant,” he said. Since the discovery of penicillin, scientists have made antibiotics to cure multitudes of diseases-tuberculosis, typhoid, urinary tract infection, septicaemia, and the list goes. But Fleming’s warning continues to haunt them. More so, because antibiotics are no more restricted to humans nor limited to treating diseases. In poultry, for instance, the industry has found another use for antibiotics: as a growth promoter. Chickens are fed antibiotics so that they gain weight and grow fast