IT sometimes seems that the human race (or more accurately its leaders) have a death wish.

The only unpredictable aspect of headlines such as ‘Antibiotic Resistant Superbugs Pose a Global Threat’ was when they would appear.

That they would appear has not been in doubt since 1969 when Dr Michael Swann’s report highlighted the huge dangers of feeding antibiotics to farmed animals in large quantities.

Since then, report has followed report in similar vein, and little has happened. In the UK, 50 per cent of all antibiotics are fed to farmed animals, in the US it is 80 per cent – and mutated, resistant bacteria know no national boundaries.

That is why the new, deadly E.coli superbug discovered in a Chinese pig farm will not remain in China. Its resistance to colistin – a drug of last resort – is likely to quickly render this drug ineffective. Equally as disturbing is this bug’s ability to pass its resistance on to other bugs.

Past debates have mostly revolved around doctors’ overprescribing, while the main reason was right there in front of us, on our dinner plates. In the past 18 months alone, two new strains of MRSA resistant superbugs have evolved in farmed animals – pigs and dairy cows – but life has gone on as normal.

Viva! has been warning of this disaster for 20 years and again urges people to go vegan. Please visit viva.org.uk/30dayvegan.

Tony Wardle, Viva! Associate Director