Wisconsin dairy farmer John Vrieze wants FDA permission to give his cows a powerful antibiotic, cefquinome, that is now the drug of choice and last resort for several difficult-to-treat human conditions. He shouldn’t get that permission.
By all accounts, Vrieze is a very good dairy farmer who embraces advanced techniques for keeping his cows happy, healthy and producing. So when one of his cows comes down with bovine respiratory disease, he’d like to treat the animal with a powerful drug, cefquinome. The manufacturer of cefquinome has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration for permission to begin selling the drug for use in animal husbandry.
That has set up a tug of war between those opposed to wider use of antibiotics in animals and those who favor it. In this battle, the opponents are the good guys; they include the American Medical Association, other health groups and the FDA’s own advisory panel.
The problem is that the disease-causing microbes which antibiotics attack constantly mutate. The wider the use of an antibiotic, the sooner one of those mutations will defeat the drug.
Widespread use of antibiotics in animals accelerates this process tremendously, leaving humans more vulnerable to diseases once controllable. ...
Enter cefquinome. ... Worried that using cefquinome in animals puts the efficacy of cefepime at risk, the advisory board at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine recommended against approving animal use.
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