Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters – The World Health Organization urged farmers on Tuesday to stop using antibiotics to promote growth and prevent disease in healthy animals because the practice fuels dangerous drug-resistant superbug infections in people. Describing a lack of effective antibiotics for humans as “a security threat” on a par with “a sudden and deadly […] Read more
Stop using antibiotics in healthy animals, WHO urges farmers
U.K. review calls for urgent cuts to antibiotic use in livestock
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters –– Massive use of antibiotics in farming poses a critical threat to global public health and should be reduced dramatically to an internationally-agreed target, according to a British government-commissioned review. Agreeing and implementing a global target for agricultural antibiotic use won’t be easy, the review, led by former Goldman Sachs chief economist […] Read more
Hog farmers more likely to carry resistant bacteria, U.S. study shows
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Hog farmers are six times more likely than the general population to carry an infectious bacteria that can cause skin and respiratory problems and resists treatment from multiple drugs, according to a new U.S. research study. The study, published this week in the online journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, is the largest-ever […] Read more
U.S. meat industry bought more human antibiotics to 2013, FDA says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Sales of medically important antibiotics in the U.S. for use in livestock jumped by 20 per cent between 2009 and 2013, federal regulators said on Friday, although recent statements by producers suggest those figures could be dropping. Between 2012 and 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said its annual report, […] Read more
Farmaceuticals: Powerful antibiotic for cows often misused by farmers
Reading Time: 9 minutes New York/Atlanta | Reuters — It is one of the most potent antibiotics used by U.S. cattle and dairy farmers, the key component in the top-selling drug line of Zoetis, the world’s largest animal health company. But the strength of the antibiotic ceftiofur — and the frequency with which it’s being misused on farms across […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
