The Global Impact of Antibiotics Overuse in Livestock

This Harvard Social Impact Review article highlights how the routine overuse of antibiotics in commercial livestock production is a major contributor to the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis by fostering the development and spread of resistant bacteria that compromise the effectiveness of critical medicines for humans and animals. It explains that antibiotics are frequently used not only to treat disease but also for growth promotion and disease prevention in crowded farming systems, which accelerates resistance that can transfer from animals to humans through food and the environment. The piece also discusses the severe human health, economic, food security, and environmental consequences of this trend, especially for vulnerable populations, and calls for coordinated policy, stewardship, innovation, and investment to reduce antibiotic reliance in animal agriculture while protecting both human health and agricultural productivity.