As expected, the drug companies marketing antibiotics to
farmers are going to follow the United States lead and ban the sale of their
products for use as growth promotants in the livestock and poultry industries.
The Canadian response was announced by the industry’s
association, the Canadian Animal Health Institute.
The United States Department of Agriculture announced
earlier this month that the drug companies have agreed to phase out growth-promoting
use of antiobiotics over the next three years. The Canadian Animal Health
Institute says the same timelines will apply in Canada.
The Canadian reaction was anticipated because it’s important
to maintain markets across the United States.
The ban has been prompted by decades-long warnings that the
growth-promoting use of relatively low levels of antibiotics increases the
likelihood that antibiotic-resistant bacteria will multiply, get into people
and render antibiotics useless to treat infections and bacterial diseases.
