USDA’s Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has published the 2020 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals. The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine published the report showing a 3% decrease in domestic sales and distribution of medically important antimicrobial drugs approved for use in food-producing animals. Overall, a 38% decrease has been seen since 2015, the peak year of sales.

FDA says these findings show fruitful efforts in supporting the judicious use of antimicrobials. The FDA is aiming to slow the development of antimicrobial resistance and preserve the efficacy of antimicrobials for fighting disease within animals and humans. FDA says those analyzing the report who are involved in the sales or distribution of antimicrobials should consider these four items:

  1. Sales and distribution information does not represent the actual use of the productions.
  2. There are several considerations to make before making a direct comparison between sales data for antimicrobial drugs for use in humans and in animals.
  3. FDA warns against making comparisons between species-specific sales estimates.
  4. The agency cautions against making comparisons between the sales volumes of different drug classes.

Read more on FDA’s published report.