Cephalosporin Ban

I am starting to get a few questions regarding the announcement by the FDA that there will be restrictions placed on the use of cephalosporins in livestock.  I am anticipating that the restrictions will be on feed grade antibiotics and not on products with ceftifur and cepharin in them.  I will have to confirm my suspicions though.

FDA to Restrict Livestock Use of Antibiotic -- The Des Moines Register

Source: The Des Moines Register (4 Jan 2012)

Author: Philip Brasher

"The Food and Drug Administration is banning farms from giving some antibiotics to livestock for disease prevention and certain other uses. The agency says the ban is needed to ensure that the drugs will continue to work when their given to humans. The FDA proposed a similar ban in 2008 but reversed the decision under pressure from livestock veterinarians. The FDA ban, which will take effect April 5, affects the class of drugs known as cephalosporins, which are used to treat pneumonia, skin infections and other illnesses in human medicine. The agency’s concern is that overuse of antibiotics in hogs and other food animals is contributing to the problem of drugs becoming less effective in human medicine because of increased antibiotic resistance among dangerous bacteria. “We believe this is an imperative step in preserving the effectiveness of this class of important antimicrobials that takes into account the need to protect the health of both humans and animals,” said Michael Taylor, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods. But the ban will contain some exceptions that the 2008 proposal did not. For example, farms would still be allowed to use an older cephalosporin called cephapirin that is not believed to contribute to antimicrobial resistance in bacteria. Cephalosporins account for a very small portion of total farm use of antibiotics. About 29 million pounds of antibiotics were sold for use in food-producing animals in 2010. Only about 54,000 pounds of those drugs were cephalosporins...FDA’s action doesn’t address the larger issue of using antibiotics in low levels to reduce the amount of feed needed to fatten hogs and other livestock. The agency has been trying to get pharmaceutical manufacturers to end that use of the drugs voluntarily."