After years of reductions, last year antimicrobial use on farms in the United States increased by 16 per cent.
That’s worrisome to health professionals because widespread use of microbials encourages the increase of bacteria that are resistant to antimicrobials.
Among those bacteria are ones that cause serious infections and illnesses in people.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine recently published data provided by drug companies which must report their sales volumes to the government.
Sales had been declining since 2017 after hitting a peak in 2015. Last year’s sales were 27 per cent below that peak.
