HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESOLUTIONS-2014-062-R-148/14/2014
62-R-14
A RESOLUTION
Authorizing the City of Evanston to Support the Statewide and National
Ban on Nontherapeutic Uses of Antibiotics in Livestock Production
WHEREAS, eighty percent of the antibiotics sold in the United States are used
in livestock production, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
reported that most of those antibiotics are used irresponsibly; and
WHEREAS, low doses of antibiotics are routinely fed to livestock for growth
promotion and disease prevention to compensate for crowded, unsanitary conditions, in
a practice known as "nontherapeutic use and
WHEREAS, "nontherapeutic use" creates ideal conditions for the development
of antibiotic resistant bacteria; and
WHEREAS, antibiotic resistant bacteria on livestock operations are known to
spread to retail meat, farmers and farmworkers, and rural environments; and
WHEREAS, antibiotic resistance in pathogens due to nontherapeutic use of
antibiotics in livestock production has been a public health concern since the 1960s;
and
WHEREAS, antibiotic resistant bacteria have been the cause of several
foodborne illness outbreaks, including a 2011 outbreak of antibiotic resistant Salmonella
in ground turkey that sickened 136 people, hospitalized 37, and killed one and lead to
the third largest meat recall in the USDA's records and a 2013 outbreak of antibiotic
resistant Salmonella in chicken that sickened 416 people and hospitalized 162; and
10 4W
I 62-R-14
WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that at
least two million Americans suffer from antibiotic resistant bacterial infections each year
and twenty-three thousand Americans die from those infections; and
WHEREAS, the medical and social costs of antibiotic -resistance infections in
just one hospital for one year have been estimated to be between $13 million and $18
million; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has limited nontherapeutic uses of two
classes of antibiotics, but otherwise largely relied on voluntary guidance to attempt to
reduce overuse of antibiotics in livestock production, despite regular acknowledgements
that nontherapeutic use and the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria poses a
significant public health threat,
NOW BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
EVANSTON, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS:
SECTION 1: The foregoing recitals are hereby found as fact and
incorporated herein by reference.
SECTION 2: The City of Evanston supports a statewide and national ban
on nontherapeutic uses of antibiotics in livestock production.
SECTION 3: The City of Evanston supports the Protection of Antibiotics
for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA) / Prevention of Antibiotics Resistance Act (PARA).
SECTION 4: The City of Evanston will send a letter to our State
Representatives, Congressional Representatives and U.S. Senators calling for a ban on
the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock agriculture and for them to co-sponsor
the PAMTA / PARA.
-2-
62-R-14
SECTION 5: This resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after
its passage and approval, in the manner provided by law.
Atte
dney Gre e, City Clerk
Adopted: i 2014
Eliz th B. Tisdahl, Mayor
-3-