Antibiotics
Antibiotics are as crucial in preventing and treating disease in animals as they are in people.
These medicines are a cornerstone of a veterinarian’s toolbox because they are currently the only way to cure bacterial disease. Without them, animals can suffer and even die at the hands of painful diseases like anthrax or pneumonia, making antibiotics essential to animal welfare.
Its why veterinary professionals work to preserve these medicines for the future by reducing the need for antibiotics in the first place. This means protecting animals from the threat of disease, diagnosing health issues earlier and treating them quickly and responsibly.
This helps ensure antibiotics retain their effectiveness and can continue to offer an invaluable benefit to animals and people well into the future.
Quick facts
Sales of veterinary antimicrobials have declined by 43% in the EU since 2011, over 50% in the UK since 2014 and 53% in France since 2011.
Animal antimicrobial sales in the US are down 38 percent since 2015.
The World Organisation for Animal Health recorded a 34% global reduction in mg/kg of animal antimicrobial use from 2015 to 2017
More than 65% of veterinarians, producers and other animal health stakeholders felt that rearing animals in a ‘Raised Without Antibiotics’ system slightly or significantly worsens animal health and welfare, according to a 2018 study.
Op-eds
04 Feb 2021
How the animal health sector became the unseen frontrunner in tackling antibiotic resistance
By Marc Prikazsky in New Europe
10 Dec 2020
Letter: On the farm, antibiotic resistance is working well
By Carel du Marchie Sarvaas in Financial Times
24 Jan 2020
How animal antibiotic resistance is a threat to all
By Carel du Marchie Sarvaas in Innovation News Network
14 Nov 2018
Antibiotics are vital to animal health and welfare. So how do we stop growing levels of drug resistance?
By Carel du Marchie Sarvaas in Reuters
07 Apr 2018
There’s a Time and a Place for Antibiotics Even While We Address Drug Resistance
By Carel du Marchie Sarvaas in Reuters
08 Oct 2017
We’re facing the possibility of an antibiotic apocalypse – this is how it could be stopped
By Carel du Marchie Sarvaas in The Independent