On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would take action to prohibit certain uses of cephalosporins on food animals. The proposed order has been welcomed by veterinary groups, including the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

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The AVMA said in a statement that the FDA decision supported its own position on extra-label drug use. However, some within the American farming industry, which is dominated by a small number of corporate interests who boast powerful lobbying power, have claimed that further restrictions would not be backed by science.

Cephalosporins are a class of antimicrobial drug used in livestock, poultry and other food-producing animals; they are also commonly used in humans to treat pneumonia and urinary tract infections and a range of other diseases. The FDA said its ruling would preserve the drugs' effectiveness in treating human disease and reduce the risk of cephalosporin resistance in certain bacterial pathogens.

Commenting on the decision, AVMA president Dr Rene Carlson stated that vets must still be allowed to use antibiotics to treat illness in animals, and claimed there is a strong case for the preemptive use of cephalosporins. She said, "Veterinarians are committed to improving the health and welfare of people, animals and the environment, and we hope the FDA's order will allow veterinarians to have therapeutic options for food animals while also protecting public health."

Rich Wood, spokesperson for the American 'Keep Antibiotics Working Coalition' stated, “When you have pigs and other animals under stress in confined areas for their entire life, you have to use antibiotics to keep them healthy. If you change the equation and take away the antibiotics, then you have to change the management process. And that’s what we need to do—make the way we raise our food more healthy for the animals and more healthy for us.”

In the USA, the prophylactic use of antibiotics is still legal, meaning farm animals can be given the same antibiotics humans rely on to fight infections to make them grow larger, faster and survive in more intensive systems. According to US Department of Agriculture figures, 80 per cent of all antibiotics used in the country are given to farm animals.

In 2008 the FDA attempted to regulate cephalosporin use, but the proposals were never finalised. For this decision and the announcement last month that it would withdraw its opposition to certain uses of penicillin and tetracyclines in animal feed, the FDA has incurred scathing criticism. Medical and veterinary professionals have expressed concern at the lack of commitment shown to combatting antibiotic resistance and other critics have accused the FDA of bowing to industry pressure.

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