Sales of antibiotics for farm use plunged by 33 per cent from 2016 to 2017, reports the United States Food and Drug Administration.
The decline came after the U.S. banned farm use of medically-important antibiotics as growth promotants.
The 2017 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals also reported a decline of 41 percent in the domestic sales and distribution of antibiotics for use in animals since 2015.
The latest figures are 28 percent below the data for 2009, when the first sales/distribution report was issued.
The results indicate that efforts to support antimicrobial stewardship are having what FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb called “a significant impact” on limiting antimicrobial-resistant infections among humans.
