The USDA’s acting chief scientist, Chavonda Jacobs-Young, has publicly criticized the World Health Organization’s updated recommendations for curbing antibiotic use on farms, citing poor science.
“The WHO guidelines are not in alignment with U.S. policy and are not supported by sound science,” said Jacobs-Young in a statement. “The recommendations erroneously conflate disease prevention with growth promotion in animals.”
The WHO guidelines call for countries to sharply lower their antibiotic use, saving the drugs for animals that are truly sick rather than using them routinely for disease prevention or growth promotion. Even when farmers do need to use antibiotics, say the recommendations, they should use only drugs that aren’t medically important to humans.
“In the U.S., the FDA allows for the use of antimicrobial drugs in treating, controlling, and preventing disease in food-producing animals under the professional oversight of licensed veterinarians,” said Jacobs-Young. “While the WHO guidelines acknowledge the role of veterinarians, they would also impose unnecessary and unrealistic constraints on their professional judgment.”
Activists groups have argued that by allowing the continued use of antibiotics for disease prevention, the government has left a loophole for the meat industry to use the drugs for growth promotion as well.
For both uses — disease prevention and growth promotion — the drugs are administered in small, frequent doses, which can encourage the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.