While the flu-like symptoms of this Salmonella infection usually go away on their own, sometimes antibiotics are necessary. The bugs are fighting back, with the ability to disable common antibiotics. In 1984, less than a tenth of Salmonella enteritidis strains were resistant to one or more antibiotics. That means that the drugs doctors use to treat the most serious infections will not work. While most people may imagine that most antibiotics are used by doctors and hospitals, nearly half are used in livestock production.
Farmers find that they promote more rapid growth.
On the farm, bacteria learn how to defeat antibiotics, an ability they carry with them to new hosts. Plasmid profiles and resistance to antimicrobial agents among Salmonella enteritidis isolates from human beings and poultry in the midwestern United States. Cited in Good Medicine Autumn 1995. In addition, the USDA estimates that roughly 20 percent of U.S. swine herds are infected with either Salmonella choleraesuis or Salmonella typhimurium. Sanctuary News, Spring 1996, page 6.