Harrisburg, Pa. (PRCN, June 24, 2008) – A Montgomery County lawmaker is trying to draw attention to the debate over the drugs farmers feed to their food animals.

Representative Daylin Leach says giving antibiotics to healthy livestock contributes to the country’s “superbug” problem. He wants to limit the use of antibiotics to sick animals to preserve the effectiveness of the drugs.

Johns Hopkins professor Ellen Silbergeld says health officials are worried about the increase in stubborn bacterial infections that affect people and are hard to treat with the arsenal of drugs that doctors have available.

“The major driver of the emergence of drug resistance pathogens in this country and worldwide is the indiscriminate and non-functional use in animal feeds. We’ve direct evidence of this.”

It’s the height of budget season, so Leach’s proposal won’t much attention now. Still Capitol observers say the bill will draw many opponents in the state’s powerful agricultural lobby.

Lori Connelly with the PennAg Industries Association says farmers need antibiotics to prevent disease in food animals. She says the bill will force farmers to find other ways to keep animals healthy – and those costs would be passed on to consumers.

“In Denmark for example they banned the use of some antibiotics and they saw significant increases in death among livestock.”

Agri-business is the largest industry in Pennsylvania.

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