TO prevent the catastrophic threat of antibiotic resistance (Echo, Mar 12), the Chief Medical Officer need look no further than the dinner plate.

Factory-farmed animals are disease-ridden as a result of being crammed into filthy sheds, which are a breeding ground for new strains of dangerous bacteria and viruses.

Pigs and other animals on factory farms are fed a steady diet of drugs to keep them alive in these unsanitary, stressful conditions, increasing the chance that drug-resistant superbugs will develop.

Last month, researchers at Michigan State University in the US restated the well-known fact that the overuse of antibiotics to treat infections in farm animals, including chickens, cows, turkeys and pigs, increases the likelihood that superbugs will cause harm to humans.

Scientists found the presence of antibiotic-resistant genes on farms at levels 28,000 times higher than normal.

In addition to the fact that vegan diets are less likely to require the use of antibiotics in the first place, choosing to eat vegan also helps to decrease the real danger of mutating bacteria.

Ben Williamson, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)