Just as food is a source of nutrition, it can also conceal potential threats to health. A recently published study has revealed the presence of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in the meat of the widely consumed ‘Sonali’ breed of chicken in Bangladesh.
E. coli is not just a familiar germ—it is a type of bacteria that can resist antibiotics. In other words, many commonly used antibiotics are ineffective against it.
The study found that E. coli was present in 68% of 390 Sonali chicken meat samples. Of these, over 40% were capable of producing an enzyme known as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL), which helps the bacteria resist major antibiotics like cephalosporins and penicillins.
The significance of this research lies not only in its findings of contamination but in its illustration of how bacteria find their way into the human body through meat production and processing.
Contaminated chicken feed, unhygienic farm environments, and unsanitary meat processing after slaughter are the primary sources of bacterial spread. The risk increases when antibiotics are used at the slightest sign of illness in poultry, especially without veterinary guidance. Instead of eliminating bacteria, such misuse often strengthens them.
The problem is especially alarming in Bangladesh, where farmers frequently administer antibiotics based on storekeepers’ advice rather than veterinary consultation.
In many cases, these antibiotics are given in doses lower than necessary, which doesn't kill the bacteria but instead helps them survive and become more resistant.
From the perspective of the developed world, Bangladesh urgently needs to adopt the “One Health” approach in its farming systems. According to this approach, the health of humans, animals, and the environment are deeply interconnected.
Public health experts point out that while E. coli naturally exists in the human gut, if it enters the body through food and becomes aggressive, it can lead to severe illness.
Bangladesh’s food supply chain is now deeply entangled in a dangerous cycle of antibiotic use. In livestock, poultry, and fish farms, antibiotics are routinely and indiscriminately used—not for treatment, but to prevent disease or accelerate growth. Traces of these invisible drugs enter the human body through meat, eggs, and milk.
As a result, an entire generation—from children to the elderly—is unknowingly becoming fertile ground for resistant bacteria.
These “superbugs” may eventually reach a point where no medicine remains effective against them. Additionally, Bangladesh’s public health system suffers from poor sanitation, lack of clean water, and weak infrastructure.
If antibiotic-resistant bacteria are released into water through sewage, they can spread through ponds, canals, rivers, or irrigation systems into agricultural land, fish farms, and eventually into food products.
According to a World Health Organization forecast, if antimicrobial resistance is not brought under control, it could cause up to 10 million deaths annually by 2050—most of them in Asia and Africa.
We are failing to understand the gravity of this impending disaster. This silent crisis of rising antibiotic resistance will not only intensify global health issues but also create severe economic and social disruptions. For developing countries like Bangladesh, the consequences will be catastrophic.
In such a future, a world without antibiotics would be a brutal one. Unless we act collectively and with urgency, future generations may read in history books that humanity sowed the seeds of its own destruction with the very medicines it created to survive.
