Antibiotics injected into poultry and eggs to reduce the spread of infection may be making people less susceptible to important antibiotic treatment, says the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The agency says Health Canada should ban the use of cephalosporins in agriculture because - although the drugs are effective in reducing the spread of illness in animals - they were not intended to be used in farming, and the effects of eating animals treated with the antibiotics are unknown.
Common examples of cephalosporins are the human antibiotics Cefzil, which treats bronchitis, ear infections and skin infections, and Ceftriaxone, used to treat mild pneumonia, bacterial meningitis and gonorrhea.
Health Canada says banning farm use of the antibiotic is a provincial matter. However, if the drugs are shown to be a risk to human safety, the government body can act.
"Health Canada could introduce regulations to ban the sale of certain drugs for use in food animals, and prohibit the sale of animals treated with these drugs for food. These regulations are enforceable," Health Canada spokesman Stephane Shank said in an interview published on the Canadian Medical Association Journal's website Wednesday.
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Feds Playing Chicken with Canadians' Health
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By Teresa Smith
The Gazette - Canada, June 17, 2009
Straight to the Source
