There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Antimicrobial agents are used in food animals for therapy and prophylaxis of bacterial
infections and in feed to promote growth. The use of antimicrobial agents for food
animals may cause problems in the therapy of infections by selecting for resistance
among bacteria pathogenic for animals or humans. The emergence of resistant bacteria
and resistance genes following the use of antimicrobial agents is relatively well
documented and it seems evident that all antimicrobial agents will select for resistance.
However, current knowledge regarding the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in
food animals, the quantitative impact of the use of different antimicrobial agents
on selection for resistance and the most appropriate treatment regimens to limit the
development of resistance is incomplete. Surveillance programmes monitoring the occurrence
and development of resistance and consumption of antimicrobial agents are urgently
needed, as is research into the most appropriate ways to use antimicrobial agents
in veterinary medicine to limit the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance.