Antibiotics have, over the past hundred years, dramatically changed not just human health, but also animal health and agricultural practices. However, many diseases are now resistant to commonly-used antibiotics, in part due to antibiotic overuse, ineffective disease prevention strategies, and waste management practices not aimed at destroying antibiotics or antibiotic resistance genes. Based on the recent CDC report (“Antibiotic resistance threats in the United States”), both policymakers and engineers must contribute to strategies for prevention and control of the spread of these diseases.