The pressure on antibiotic use in agriculture continues to rise. Veterinarians are seeing more cases of antibiotic resistance and are rushing to find ways to manage animals effectively without using antibiotics unless absolutely necessary.
. . . the future of effective antibiotics isn’t certain for humans nor animals, says Bob Smith, DVM.
Source: Drovers, November 5, 2018. Link. “What we need to be doing is looking for management systems that will allow us to produce beef, in our case, with less disease and less need for antibiotics,” Smith says. “The responsibility really goes to our producers, our farmers and ranchers, to our veterinarians, to our educators, to our extension people and our researchers, so we can better understand how we can reduce disease and, therefore, reduce the need for antibiotics and have animals that are healthier and happier at the same time.”
We have the responsibility of judicious antibiotic usage but also we have a responsibility to treat animals when they are sick just as physicians have a responsibility to treat children and the adults when they become sick with a bacterial infection,” Smith says.
INSIGHTS: Dr. Smith’s comments are appropriate for all animal health pros, regardless of species focus. Note the references to fence line weaning, pre-conditioning and potential tightening of antibiotic regulations.