Europe’s Lawmakers Take Aim at Antibiotics Used in Livestock

April 19, 2011 — 

The Chairman of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee, Paolo de Castro, has drafted a resolution calling for better research and analysis of the impact and more prudent use of antimicrobials antibiotics in animals.

"Public health officials have long warned of the dangers of the overuse of antibiotics in humans," the committee noted in a news release. "The same applies to animals, and since the increase this overuse produces in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is identical in humans and animals."

According to the committee, almost half of the antibiotics in Europe are prescribed for animals. So it is unsurprising that the overuse of antimicrobials is considered to be a cause of increasing resistance to antibiotics and can pose a serious threat to the European livestock sector.

This week the committee resolved to reduce the use of antibiotics in livestock production and called for better monitoring and control of sales of antibiotics and "more prudent use of antimicrobials in animals allied with better training and information for vets and farmers on how to minimize the development of AMR."

Source: MeatingPlace.com
By John Strak on 4/15/2011