Some of the strongest antibiotics available for humans have been found to be in use on farms in large parts of European Union countries.
Antibiotics to fight lift-threatening infections are in frequent use in animals, according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The medicines, classified as “critically important in human medicine” by the World Health Organisation, are being deployed on farm animals in many of the leading EU countries, including the UK, the report said.
Advice from the WHO is that these drugs should be used in only the most extreme cases, if ever, when treating animals because antibiotics are so crucial for human health.
Evidence shows that heavy use of antibiotics on animals is a threat to human health as it helps bacteria to develop resistance. In the EU the amount of antibiotics used on animals is three times greater than that for humans. Spain has been reported to be a particularly heavy user as it, like most of Europe, permits routine mass medication.
The EMA data concerns the sales of antibiotics for veterinary purposes in 2014. Although their use fell on farms by an EU average of 2% on 2013, there was an increase is the most potent of these medicines, such as colistin, which is used as a last resort in serious emergencies in humans.
Sales of fluorquinolones, which are used in treating life-threatening conditions such as Legionnaire’s disease, rose from 141 tonnes to 172 tonnes in 2014. Sales of macrolides also jumped across the countries surveyed in the same year.
Antibiotic resistance could lead to simple operations, such as hip replacements and dental surgery, becoming dangerous ones due to the risk of contracting untreatable infections.
