Researchers propose limiting meat intake to keep antibiotics effective.

Researchers propose limiting meat intake to keep antibiotics effective.Researchers said that capping drug use in animals, imposing a user fee on the price of veterinary antimicrobials or limiting meat intake could reduce up to 80% of antimicrobial use worldwide by 2030. According to Ramanan Laxminarayan, PhD, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP), and colleagues, inappropriate use of antimicrobials in animals is a leading cause of drug resistance in both humans and animals. The researchers estimated that 131,109 tons of antimicrobials were used in animals globally in 2013. If left unchecked, this number is projected to increase to 200,235 tons by 2030. In a recent report published in Science, the researchers proposed three strategies that address the contribution of antibiotic use in animals to drug resistance. The first involves a global regulation that would cap the use of antimicrobials at 50 mg per population correction unit (PCU), which could reduce 64% of consumption by 2030. more