Source: Animal Health Institute
The Animal Health Institute (AHI) has praised the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine’s (CVM) final guidance on the duration of use for medically important antimicrobials in animal feed and water. The guidance creates a framework for pharmaceutical sponsors to collaborate with CVM in setting appropriate usage limits while preserving veterinarians’ ability to make case-by-case treatment decisions. AHI emphasized that recent animal disease outbreaks have affected farmer profitability and food prices, underscoring the need for veterinarians to retain access to effective treatment tools.
The organization also highlighted ongoing industry efforts to reduce antimicrobial reliance through disease prevention strategies. Between 2019 and 2023, animal health companies introduced 28 new diagnostic tools and 71 vaccines globally, nearly half targeting bacterial diseases. AHI said diagnostics and vaccines are critical to lowering antibiotic use in food animals and expressed commitment to working with CVM to implement updated labeling guidelines that balance animal health needs and antimicrobial stewardship.