Concern about antibiotics used for animals
Posted Jan 6, 2014 1:37 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A researcher at the University of Calgary says extensive use of antibiotics in the agriculture and aquaculture industries is creating a public health crisis.
In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Professor Aiden Hollis says a “flood” of antibiotics are being used on crops, livestock and fish to increase productivity.
Hollis says the practice has resulted in an increase in bacteria that is immune to available treatments, and, if left unchecked, it will create a health crisis on a global scale.
While banning non-human use of antibiotics would be too challenging because they are needed to treat sick animals, Hollis proposes imposing user fees instead.
He says such a practice would deter the “low-value use” of antibiotics and encourage farmers to improve their animal management methods and to adopt better substitutes for the drugs such as vaccinations.
While there is movement in the U.S. to control the non-human use of antibiotics, with the FDA recently seeking voluntary limits, Health Canada has made no such commitment.
