Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the defining public health challenges of the 21st centuryâand animal agriculture is both a contributor to and a stakeholder in addressing it. The relationship between livestock antibiotic use and AMR has profound welfare implications for both animals and humans.
Livestock consume approximately 73% of global antibiotics by weight. Sub-therapeutic use in feedâhistorically common for growth promotionâselects strongly for resistant bacteria. These resistant organisms and their resistance genes spread through meat products, environmental contamination, direct contact, and wildlife into human populations and clinical settings. The result is treatments failing for human infectionsâwith significant human suffering and mortality.
Resistance also has direct animal welfare consequences: when first-line antibiotics fail to clear infections because pathogens are resistant, animals suffer longer, require more invasive treatments, or face earlier euthanasia decisions. The emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in livestock and other resistant pathogens creates treatment failures that extend animal suffering.
Responsible antibiotic use in livestock: Prescription-only antibioticsâlimiting access to veterinary oversight. Eliminating preventive mass medicationâtreating sick animals rather than medicating healthy ones against possible future disease. Vaccination programsâreducing disease incidence and antibiotic need. Biosecurityâpreventing disease introduction. Good husbandryâhousing, nutrition, and management that reduces disease susceptibility.
UK livestock antibiotic use declined by 55% between 2014 and 2022 through the RUMA Targets Task Force program. EU banned routine preventive group treatment and use of highest-priority critically important antibiotics in livestock from 2022. These represent significant welfare-positive policy achievements.
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