New FDA guidelines on antibiotic use in livestock aimed at protecting human health

The Food and Drug Administration has issued new voluntary guidelines to the U.S. agriculture industry advising that antibiotics be used on livestock only to treat or prevent illness. This follows years of discussion and decades of use of the drugs in well animals. The FDA's condemnation of the previous practice comes as antibiotic overuse has led to several types of bacteria becoming drug-resistant and posing serious danger to humans.

Beth Marie Moje reports in the San Jose Mercury News that the Centers for Disease Control has pointed to the creation of these "superbugs" as critical and growing. Just one of the types of resistant bacteria, something called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), writes Moje, found in both farms and hospitals, has been estimated to kill more people than AIDS.

The move by the FDA is not cheered by all. Some ranchers and dairy farmers fear more regulation ahead. (Read more.)