For the First Time, Antibiotic Use in Farm Animals Drops
Sales of the drugs for U.S. agriculture had risen every year since the FDA started collecting data.
For decades, farmers have relied on small but continuous doses of antibiotics—sometimes the same ones used to treat humans—to help animals grow. It’s unclear exactly why it works, but it does.
These doses also create antibiotic-resistant bacteria that could spread to humans. For example, resistance to colistin, an antibiotic.
