Antibiotic resistance is a major concern of the animal health community, including drug manufacturers and veterinarians. Like USDA, they believe that there is not enough scientific evidence to warrant severe restrictions or bans on antibiotic use in livestock and poultry. Farmers use antibiotics to prevent and treat disease and to promote growth, which ultimately improves animal productivity. This practice can control pneumonia, hepatitis, wounds, salmonellosis, cholera, diarrhea and dozens of other infections in animals that would otherwise be untreatable. As a growth promoter, antibiotics in medicated feed help animals gain weight more efficiently by controlling the bacteria that can interfere with their ability to absorb nutrients.
Animals become healthier, grow faster and stronger, and fewer die from disease.
USDA routinely inspects meat, poultry and egg products for residues that exceed tolerance levels. The inspectors seldom find residues that exceed safe levels. The controversy here involves antibiotic resistance of bacteria, not antibiotic residues. The article noted that DT104 is resistant to five antibiotics and has become a major cause of illness in humans and animals in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom. In 1995, FDA approved the drug to prevent bacterial diseases in poultry.