WASHINGTON – The sale of antibiotics for use in livestock increased 16 percent from 2009 to 2012 in a trend that has troubling implications for human resistance to bacteria, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA said in a recent annual report that nearly 70 percent of the antibiotics are considered “medically important” for humans, and that up to 80 percent are given to animals that will be sold at grocery stores to promote growth and prevent disease.
The numbers feed growing concerns about the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” which can make infections hard, if not impossible, to cure. The World Health Organization said in its first report on the issue this year that the threat is “happening right now in every region of the world,” and that it could affect everyone.
To address the problem, the FDA last year implemented a new policy aimed at curbing the use of antibiotics for growth among livestock and requiring veterinarian prescriptions when producers use them on sick animals. President Barack Obama issued an executive order last month to create a task force that will examine the issue.
It’s impossible to know whether these efforts are working because the FDA’s latest numbers stop at 2012. But, the data show that antibiotic use was trending in the wrong direction at a critical time.
