Antibiotics, animals, and people--again!
Falkow, S.; Kennedy, D.
Science 291(5503): 397
2001
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 11228121 Document Number: 529030
The time has come to end the struggle between good science and politics over the issue of using antibiotics in animal feed. For a quarter of a century, scientists have struggled to get the subtherapeutic growth-promotant uses of penicillin and other antibiotics outlawed. However, Congress has been persuaded by livestock production interests to shelve this regulation. Recent studies have demonstrated unmistakable links between the use of antibiotics in this manner and the prevalence of resistant bacteria. Adding to this problem is the discovery that the bacteria that infect chicken and turkeys have become resistant to fluoroquinoline, which is used in poultry feed. Clearly, scientists should take on the challenge of developing novel antimicrobials that work specifically against animal pathogens but do not create resistance in human ones.