Until recently, a storehouse of antibiotics could fight off most infections from bacteria. But the overuse of antibiotics by doctors and veterinarians has created dangerous strains of bacteria resistant to these once powerful drugs. Many Americans are unaware that a major contributor to this problem is industrial livestock production, where cows, pigs, and chickens are fed antibiotics to fatten them for the meat case. How did we get this far? Could your next burger or chicken wing be laced with untreatable bacteria? Who's susceptible? Can producers raise livestock without antibiotics? Will the US follow Europe's lead and ban livestock-fattening antibiotics also prescribed as human drugs?

Several of the world's top experts on antibiotic resistance will answer these questions, delve deeply into the roots of this health crisis, and examine upcoming opportunities to salvage these important drugs to treat disease in humans and animals.

10 am: Antibiotic Resistance, Human Medicine, and Food Production
Frederick J. Angulo, D.V.M., Ph.D., Centers for Disease Control
Mark S. Honeyman, Ph. D., Iowa State University
Glenn Morris, M.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine

11 am: Solutions to Antibiotic Resistance in the US and Europe
Margaret Mellon, Ph. D., J.D., Union of Concerned Scientists
Wolfgang Witte, Robert Koch Institute, Germany

** Fruit, muffins, and beverages will be served.