How Should Antibiotics Used in Farm Animals Be Ranked for Human Health Risk?

Official title: Consultation: Categorization of antimicrobial drugs based on importance in human medicine

Closed Regulations & Permits Agriculture & Food Health & Safety

Health Canada asked for feedback on updating how it ranks antibiotics used in farm animals. Why does this matter? Some antibiotics are critical for treating human infections. When they're overused in livestock, bacteria can become resistant—making those drugs less effective when you need them. This consultation gathered input on which antibiotics should be restricted most heavily in veterinary use.

Why This Matters

Ever taken antibiotics for a serious infection? Their effectiveness depends partly on how they're used in agriculture. Overuse in farm animals breeds resistant bacteria that can spread to humans. This ranking system helps decide which antibiotics get restricted in livestock—protecting the drugs you might need someday.

What Could Change

Health Canada will finalize updated rankings for antimicrobial drugs. Antibiotics deemed more critical for human medicine could face tighter restrictions on veterinary use. This affects what drugs farmers and vets can use to treat livestock, potentially changing treatment options and costs in the food animal industry.

Key Issues

How should antimicrobials be ranked based on their importance to human medicine?
What are the potential impacts of changing antimicrobial categories on veterinary practice?

How to Participate

Review the current Categorization of Antimicrobial Drugs Based on Importance in Human Medicine and List A of antimicrobial ingredients.
Submit feedback by email to vdd.hsd-dih.dmv@hc-sc.gc.ca.

What Happened

Health Canada received feedback on the proposed revisions to the antimicrobial categorization. The department stated it will consider all comments received and address concerns before finalizing the updated categorization document.