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WHEREAS, 80% of the antibiotics sold in the United States are used in livestock production and many of these drugs are used in low doses for growth promotion and disease prevention to compensate for crowded, unsanitary conditions in a practice known as non therapeutic use, and;
WHEREAS, non therapeutic use of antibiotics creates ideal conditions for the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria which is known to spread to farmers and farm workers and rural communities, through waste in soil, streams and ponds and in ground water to urban environments, with antibiotic resistant bacteria found increasingly in the food supply and in people with antibiotic resistant infections, and;
WHEREAS, antibiotic resistance due to non therapeutic use of antibiotics has been a public health concern since the 1960's. Two million Americans suffer from antibiotic resistant bacterial infections each year with staggering medical and social costs. A 2004 study revealed that Pittsburgh children experienced double the rate of Group A Streptococci infection than the national rate, and;
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NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh supports a statewide and national ban on non therapeutic uses of antibiotics in livestock production, and;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh supports the Protection of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA) /Prevention of Antibiotic Resistance Act (PARA) and will send letters to our Congressional Representatives and US Senators to ban its usage and co-sponsor the Senate and HR bills.