News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Animal health groups today commended the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) voluntary approach to reducing the growth-promotion uses of antibiotics in farm animals but voiced some concern that the policy may hurt animal health and lead to higher meat prices.

(CIDRAP News) – The US government needs to collect much more data on antibiotic use in food animals and resistant bacteria in animals and retail meat to clarify the possible links between them, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released this week.

Norway OKs OTC antiviral salesTo ease response to the H1N1 pandemic, Norway is allowing over-the-counter sales of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), the Associated Press (AP) reported. The new policy starts tomorrow and is in effect until the middle of 2010. Norway has ordered 9.4 million doses of vaccine, but the manufacturer has reportedly not produced enough to meet demand.

(CIDRAP News) – At last month's avian flu conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, participants endorsed a new strategy for fighting avian influenza and other infectious diseases, one that focuses on points where animal, human, and ecosystems meet, according to a recent statement by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Editor's note: This story was updated from its original form to include additional details about the FDA guidelines and comments from a pharmaceutical industry representative.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a guide to help the drug industry assess the risk that antimicrobial drugs intended for use in food animals will spawn resistant bacteria that could ultimately harm human health.

Note: This story was updated Mar 6, 2002, with the addition of information about comments from a group that opposes the proposed legislation.

(CIDRAP News) — To slow the growth of bacterial resistance to drugs, Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has introduced a bill to ban the use of eight types of antibiotics in healthy food animals and halt all use of fluoroquinolones in poultry.