Last week President Obama signed an executive order calling for a five year plan to track highly resistant bacterial infections. Obama said the Food and Drug Administration in coordination with USDA shall continue taking steps to eliminate the use of medically important classes of antibiotics for growth promotion purposes in food producing animals. National Pork Producers Council Chief Veterinarian Dr. Liz Wagstrom says it’s a positive order that will address both human and animal health.
Wagstrom says she’s also pleased there is a commitment from the administration to doing epidemiological research on the issue.
She also is encouraged that the White House acknowledges the meat industry’s relative contribution to the resistance problem in humans compared to uses in health care settings which is uncertain.
Wagstrom adds that all animal industries are working as hard as they can to comply with an FDA plan released last December to reduce the use of antibiotics in agriculture.