In response to concerns about the rise in drug-resistant superbugs worldwide, US regulators issued voluntary guidelines to help cut back on antibiotics routinely fed to farm animals.
The plan described by the Food and Drug Administration is not mandatory, and applies only to certain pharmaceuticals that are given to healthy livestock in a bid to grow bigger animals and boost food production.
‘We need to be selective about the drugs we use in animals and when we use them,’ said William, deputy director Flynn yesterday for science policy at the FDA’s Centre for Veterinary Medicine.
‘Antimicrobial resistance may not be completely preventable, but we need to do what we can to slow it down.’
The FDA guidelines set out a three-year timeframe for phasing out the use of antibiotics that are important in human medicine for growth uses in farm animals.
Companies that make animal feed containing antibiotics would be restricted to marketing them only for sick animals.
The plan described by the Food and Drug Administration is not mandatory, and applies only to certain pharmaceuticals that are given to healthy livestock in a bid to grow bigger animals and boost food production.
‘We need to be selective about the drugs we use in animals and when we use them,’ said William, deputy director Flynn yesterday for science policy at the FDA’s Centre for Veterinary Medicine.
‘Antimicrobial resistance may not be completely preventable, but we need to do what we can to slow it down.’
The FDA guidelines set out a three-year timeframe for phasing out the use of antibiotics that are important in human medicine for growth uses in farm animals.
Companies that make animal feed containing antibiotics would be restricted to marketing them only for sick animals.