According to a new study, antibiotics used only in animals may be contributing to antibiotic resistance in humans. Antibiotics considered not medically important for humans have historically been regulated less stringently than antibiotics that are also given to people. The assumption has been that giving these non-medically important antibiotics to animals does not increase risk of antibiotic resistance in people because humans don’t take those medicines. New research challenges this belief; Scientists examined ionophores, a type of antibiotic which given to poultry to control parasitic infection and used in cows and pig to promote growth and ward off disease. The researchers found that use of ionophores may help certain bacteria develop resistance to medically important antibiotics.
“That really suggests that the assumption that ionophore use in animals is safe for humans is not a good assumption,” said the study’s senior author Alex Wong. “We’re accidentally selecting for resistance to drugs that are important to humans. So this is an issue we think we need to pay more attention to than we have.”
Full Story: CIDRAP
