FDA reverses decision to ban use of cephalosporin in animals.

Responding to pressure from the U.S. agricultural industry, the Food and Drug Administration in December reversed its July decision banning the use of cephalosporin antimicrobial drugs in veterinary practice, setting aside concerns that using the drugs for diseases other than those for which they are officially approved is a risk to public health.

According to the advocacy organization Keep Antibiotics Working, cephalosporins are the antibiotic treatment of choice for serious salmonella infections in humans, which cause 1.3 million illnesses each year in the United States. But studies link the widespread preventive use of cephalosporins in poultry to increasing resistance to the drugs in both humans and farm animals.

APHA supports a ban on cephalosporins for use in animals. Last year, the Association urged FDA to reject the drug for use in cattle, citing increased human resistance to cephalosporins, which are also used to treat people with pneumonia.

"We are hoping that the new administration and the new FDA will support legislation that would review all the existing approvals for antibiotics for animal use and determine which ones may be contributing to resistance in humans," said APHA member John M. Balbus, MD, MPH, chief health scientist for Environmental Defense Fund. "People would be surprised that herds of animals can get advanced antibiotics without anybody writing a prescription."

For more information, visit www.keepantibiotics working.com/new/index.cfm.