Livestock farmers around the world will use nearly 106,000 tonnes of antibiotics by 2030, an increase of 67 percent in two decades, a team of scientists estimated. The group says it created the first global map of anitmicrobial use by combining data on livestock density, projected demand for meat and estimates of current use of antibiotics in the livestock industry. “Starting from this baseline, we estimate that between 2010 and 2030, the global consumption of antimicrobials will increase by 67 percent … to 105,596 +/- 3,605 tonnes,” says the paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“This rise is likely to be driven by the growth in consumer demand for livestock products in middle-income countries and a shift to large-scale farms where antimicrobials are used routinely,” according to the paper. It says antibiotic usage could nearly double in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. “Our findings call for initiatives to preserve antibiotic effectiveness while simultaneously ensuring food security in low- and lower-middle-income countries.”
An NPR blog says the estimated 63,000 tonnes of antibiotics used in livestock in 2010 “is roughly twice as much antibiotics prescribed by doctors globally to fight infections in people.” China is the world’s largest user of antibiotics in livestock, followed by the United States, Brazil, India and Germany. In the United States, the FDA is halfway through a three-year phase-out of the use of medically important antibiotics to promote weight gain in chickens, hogs and cattle. The drugs will be available to prevent and treat illness, if prescribed by a veterinarian.