Mixed views on animal antibiotics report by UK’s Antimicrobial Resistance review

Agri-food analysts have issued mixed responses to a UK report linking antibiotic use in animals to a critical threat to human health.

Jim O’Neill, chair of the UK’s Antimicrobial Resistance review, said: “We treat them [antibiotics] like sweets and the problem is compounded in some parts of the world, made even worse by the same behaviour with animals,” he said.

Mr O’Neill says 100 out of 139 scientific papers studied by his group found links between antibiotic use in animals and dangerous antibiotic resistance in humans.