Antibiotic use in livestock

More than 1.2 million people died globally in 2019 from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to the largest study to date on the issue, quoted by the BBC.

The number is higher than the annual mortality from malaria or AIDS.

With more than 1,500 deaths reported annually from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Greece is second behind Italy among European Union countries that are facing a health crisis, according to survey data presented in Brussels - ahead of European Antibiotic Awareness Day on Sunday - by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). 

Turkey has ranked the highest in antibiotics use at over 38 defined daily doses (DDD) per 1,000 people in Europe, where the average antibiotic consumption was nearly 17.9 DDD per 1,000 inhabitants per day, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report published on Nov. 12.

Antibiotic resistance is highest in Turkey among OECD countries, a Nov. 7 report by the organization showed.

Bulgarian meat is among the most contaminated with antibiotics in the EU according to the seventh annual report of the European Medicines Agency on the sale of antibiotics for animals in 30 European countries in 2015. According to the report in Bulgaria, 1 kg of live weight averages 121 milligrams antibiotic, making it the eighth highest European antibiotic rating.

BELGRADE - Health organizations around the world are warning that the overuse of antibiotics, by both the healthcare and farming industries, has led to the rise of superbugs - bacteria, parasites and viruses that are resistant to treatment and could kill millions in the foreseeable future.

It’s World Antibiotic Awareness Week: countries need to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics to prevent resistance.

Bulgarian hospitals use up to three times more antibiotics than in modern European countries, according to Todor Kantardzhiev, head of the National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases.

In a Tuesday interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, he warned that antibiotic misuse increased the number of resistant infections and the number of deaths caused by them.