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Dr KK Aggarwal 29 March 2018
The use of antibiotics in the food industry is a less-recognized, but rapidly emerging cause of global antibiotic resistance.
About 80% of use of medically important antibiotics occurs in the animal sector in some countries, primarily to enhance growth in healthy animals. They are used in food-producing animals to treat and control bacterial infections in the presence of disease (therapeutic use), and for disease prevention (prophylactic use) and growth promotion (subtherapeutic use) in the absence of disease.
The widespread misuse and indiscriminate use of antibiotics in agriculture is a major contributor to antibiotic resistance in humans. Development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in food-producing animals, which can then be transmitted to humans via food and other transmission routes.
Some of the antibiotics that are used in animals are usually the last line of treatment for critical infections in humans or are one among the very limited number of treatment options available for serious infections in humans.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Antimicrobial use in food-producing animals can lead to selection and dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in food-producing animals, which can then be transmitted to humans via food and other transmission routes.”
The WHO published new guidelines last year on the use of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals and has recommended that farmers and the food industry stop using antibiotics routinely to promote growth and prevent disease in healthy animals.
The new WHO guidelines call for the following actions regarding the use of medically important antibiotics in animals:
There is also increasing attention toward the identification and development of alternatives to antibiotics for use in animals.
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