Jill U. Adams reports on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent decision to restrict the feeding of antibiotics to animals as part of an effort to reduce the potential for the proliferation of drug-resistant viruses from the over-use of these medicines by livestock farmers. “Only 20% of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are given to people who are sick with bacterial infections, such as ear and urinary tract infections and pneumonia. Most of the penicillin, tetracycline and other antibiotic drugs used in this country are given to livestock that are perfectly healthy. Farmers have been putting these medicines in animal feed since the 1950s. They say the drugs help protect herds from infectious diseases and help animals grow faster. But for at least 40 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been concerned that the widespread practice may be fueling the growth of human pathogens that are no longer vulnerable to doctors’ front-line drugs. In the last few weeks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has made two rulings addressing the use of antibiotics in animals that will end up as food on our dinner tables.”
World Health News