US demands more data on antimicrobial use in animals

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is boosting its knowledge of antimicrobial use in food processing, issuing a rule that requires species-specific data reporting on antimicrobials used in animals for human consumption or food-producing animals.

The new rule requires drug companies to provide estimates of sales broken down by major food-producing species (cattle, swine, chickens and turkeys) in addition to the overall estimates they already submit on the amount of antimicrobial drugs they sell or distribute for use in food-producing animals.

The sales data is intended to improve the agency’s understanding of how antimicrobials are sold and distributed for use in food-producing species and help target efforts to ensure judicious use of medically important antimicrobials.

Adding the requirement for sponsors to report species-specific sales estimates will also complement the data collection plan the FDA is developing as part of the National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB), with the US Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to obtain additional on-farm use and resistance data.

“This information will further enhance FDA’s ongoing activities related to slowing the development of antimicrobial resistance to help ensure that safe and effective antimicrobial new animal drugs will remain available for use in human and animal medicine,” said Dr William T. Flynn, DVM, MS, deputy director for science policy in the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.