Study Finds Dramatic Increase in Antibiotic Resistance in Livestock

A recent study published in the journal Science finds antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in food animals or livestock raised for meat, has nearly tripled in low- and middle-income countries since 2000. Led by the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), scientists examined the proportion of animals which showed rates of resistance higher than 50 percent: “a plausible cutoff at which one may no longer use the antibiotic as reliable treatment,” explains co-author and director of the CDDEP Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan.