Antibiotic use in animals and humans in Australia

Page, Stephen W

doi:10.5694/mja2.50463

Topics

To the Editor: The recent perspective on antibiotic use in animals and humans in Australia1 provides an overview based on sales of antibiotics for livestock during the period 2005–2010. Unfortunately, these are the most recent data available, an important limitation that the authors highlight.

Advanced Veterinary Therapeutics, Sydney, NSW

Correspondence: swp@advet.com.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

1. Langham F, Cheng AC. Antibiotic use in animals and humans in Australia. Med J Aust 2019; 211: 159–160. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2019/211/4/antibiotic-use-animals-and-humans-australia
2. Page SW. Does antibiotic use in farmed animals pose a risk to human health? — No. Med J Aust 2012; 196: 303. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2012/196/5/does-antibiotic-use-farmed-animals-pose-risk-human-health-no
3. Hewson K. Antimicrobial stewardship in Australian livestock industries. Sydney: Australian Eggs, 2018. https://www.animalhealthaustralia.com.au/antimicrobial-stewardship-in-australian-livestock-industries; (viewed Sept 2019).
4. Lloyd DH, Page SW. Antimicrobial stewardship in veterinary medicine. Microbiol Spectrum 2018; 6: ARBA‐0023‐2017.
5. O'Neill J. Antimicrobials in agriculture and the environment: reducing unnecessary use and waste. Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, 2015. https://amr-review.org/Publications.html (viewed Sept 2019).
6. Australian Veterinary Association, Animal Medicines Australia. Antimicrobial prescribing guidelines for pigs. Sydney: Australian Veterinary Association; 2019. https://www.ava.com.au/siteassets/resources/fighting-antimicrobial-resistance/antimicrobial-prescribing-guidelines-for-pigs.pdf (viewed Sept 2019).

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