Guidelines on responsible use of animal medicines on farms unveiled

Farmers, vets and other animal health professionals are signing up to new guidelines on the responsible on-farm use of animal medicines.

The industry-wide initiative was unveiled at the Animal and Plant Health Association (Apha) annual conference — Healthy Animals, Premium Food; How can Ireland deliver? — in Killenard, Co Laois, yesterday.

One objective detailed in Apha’s accompanying booklet — Safe Use Of Livestock Medicines For Cattle And Sheep Farms — is to guard against medicine use in animals leading to a rise in superbugs in humans, with hospitals in the EU investing considerable energy into identifying a source of these bugs.