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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1999
> March
> March 12, 1999:
Hour One: Antibiotics in Animals
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week that it was beginning to reconsider its rules for the use of antibiotic drugs in livestock. The regulatory agency, facing evidence that the constant feeding of antibiotics to farm animals may be helping to breed a new generation of drug-resistant microbes, is proposing that manufacturers should have to test drugs for their ability to cause resistance. Drugs that don't make the grade may be banned from agricultural use. The FDA wants manufacturers to pay particularly close attention to antibiotics that are also used as human medicines.
| Many people in the agricultural community argue that the FDA is being too hard on the use of antibiotics in livestock, which they claim is necessary for producing meat and poultry that is safe and affordable. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are also opposed to the change in rules, saying that the problem of antibiotic resistance isn't due to agricultural use of antibiotics. Some consumer groups, on the other hand, say that the FDA is being too lenient, pointing to the recent finding of bacteria in poultry resistant to fluoroquinolones (a new class of antibiotics only recently approved) as evidence that the use of antibiotics in livestock is robbing the human medical community of useful medications.
The actual changes might not occur for another two years, if at all. The proposed rule change is now in a period for public comment, which will continue into April. We'll get YOUR comments on this hour of Science Friday. | 
Image by Sandra Silvers,
courtesy USDA ARS. |
Listeners Respond
Guests:
Stuart Levy
Author, "The Antibiotic Paradox: How Miracle Drugs are Destroying the Miracle"
Director, Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance
Tufts University
Boston, MA
David Bell
Assistant to the Director for Antimicrobial Resistance
National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, GA
Lyle Vogel
Director of Scientific Activities
American Veterinary Medical Association
Schaumburg, IL
Books/Articles Discussed:
"The Antibiotic Paradox: How Miracle Drugs are Destroying the Miracle", by Stuart Levy. Plenum, 1992.
Related Links:
CDC intro to antibiotic resistance
World Health Organization Antimicrobial Resistance Reporting
FDA center for veterinary medicine
Tufts Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance
Science News article: Livestock's Role in Antibiotic Resistance
Veterinary Feed Directive Coalition - American Veterinary Medical Association
United States Animal Health Association
This segment produced by:
Annette Heist
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist
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