FDA Working With Veterinary Industry To Curb Use Of Antimicrobial Drugs In Livestock Feed
January 8, 2014 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now in the early stages of implementing a plan to curb, or phase out, if possible, the use of over-the-counter antimicrobial drugs used in livestock feed or water. These are used for the purposes of improving animals’ speed of growth and weight gain with less food.
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While faster growth and weight gain are side benefits of antimicrobial drugs, these are not their main functions. As the FDA explains, “Antimicrobial drugs include all drugs that work against a variety of microorganism, such as bacteria, virus, fungi, and parasites.” All antibiotics are antimicrobials that fight against bacteria.
According to the agency, the issue of concern is antimicrobial resistance. This occurs when bacteria or other microbes become resistant to the effects of a drug after being exposed to it.
Several antimicrobial drugs used in the animal industry are also used to treat human infections. This has also prompted concerns that overuse in the animal industry can contribute to drug resistance in people.
The FDA also explained that governments around the world consider antimicrobial resistant bacteria a major public health threat because “illnesses caused by drug-resistant strains of bacteria are more likely to be potentially fatal when the medicines used to treat them are rendered less effective.”
FDA, food | tagged antimicrobial drugs used in livestock feed