To Fight Antibiotic Resistance, We Need Better Data on Antibiotic Use in Food-Animal Production

Scientists around the world, along with numerous organizations, including the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization, have said that if we do not significantly reduce antibiotic use in humans and animals, these wonder drugs will soon lose their effectiveness. Action is needed from all stakeholders -- government leaders, the scientific community, the pharmaceutical industry, the agricultural industry and the general public -- to address this global threat. As I noted in an earlier blog, superbugs do not stay in silos -- they spread between livestock and people, between hospitals and the community, and from nation to nation -- but the stakeholders concerned about antibiotic resistance are not leaving their silos, and this prevents progress at a time when it's most needed. As part of my effort to increase communication between scientists and policymakers, I organized a letter of over 50 leading researchers from across the globe that urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to quickly finalize a proposed rule to collect, analyze and publish more detailed data on antibiotic use in U.S. food-animal production. The proposed rule, "Antimicrobial Animal Drug Sales and Distribution Reporting" (Docket No. FDA-2012-N-0447), is an important step in addressing antimicrobial resistance by collecting and reporting on how and why antibiotics are used in food animals. This detailed data would help us better understand where misuse and...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news