Antibiotics, Livestock, and the Rise of Superbugs

Antibiotics are among our strongest defenses against infection and disease. But there’s growing evidence that how we use the drugs in livestock could threaten the effectiveness of the medication in people. The vast majority of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are given to livestock in low doses to promote growth. This might be creating superbugs: bacteria immune to the antibiotics people depend on. Living on Earth investigates.