Amid fears of superbugs, the sale of medically important antibiotics given to food-producing livestock rose by 16% overall in the U.S. in 2024 from the year before, an increase that prompted advocates to complain that not enough is being done to thwart antibiotic resistance.
In particular, the sale and distribution of tetracycline, which accounted for 69% of the medically important antibiotics given livestock, rose by 20%, according to the latest annual report from the Food and Drug Administration. The reliance on tetracycline also jumped from 2023, when the antibiotic accounted for 66% of such medicines given to livestock.
The FDA data also show a 79% increase in antibiotic sales for chicken, a 25% sales rise for turkeys, a 16% increase for cattle, and a 13% rise for pigs compared to 2023. At the same time, there were fewer cattle and turkey raised in 2024 compared to 2023, while the number of additional pigs and chickens raised rose by less than 1%, noted Steven Roach, who heads the safe and healthy food program at the Food Animal Concerns Trust, a nonprofit that seeks to limit antibiotic use in food-producing livestock.
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