CURRENT
SITUATION:
CHALLENGES
CVO Facilitated Discussion participants felt that the availability of antibiotics without
a prescription, OTC antibiotics, OUI, the lack of available labeled drugs in many
circumstances and the discontinuation of the mandatory livestock medicines education
program for producers has led to uncontrolled and uneducated antibiotic use on farms.
There is considerable antibiotic use on farms with no veterinary involvement. While
farmers expect to receive antibiotics from the veterinarian, there is a lack of a good
understanding of the requirements for a VCPR and the value of a veterinarian.
Other challenges included the lack of affordable, suitable, tested and proven alternatives
to antibiotics, including vaccines. As well, there are no new and effective antibiotics
being developed. While a reduction in antibiotic use is possible, it would be very
time and resource intensive. Further, veterinarians felt that there is a lack of objective
scientific information linking antibiotic