Important Agencies
This is an overview of the agencies dealing with antimicrobial use in poultry.
This shows you how the agencies interact with one another. It's complicated, but effective.
What is considered to be an antimicrobial?
The words "antimicrobial resistance" cover a lot of ground. This umbrella term includes antibacterial drugs, antiviral drugs, antifungal agents, and antiparaistic drugs.
These are several similar looking words that are used when discussing this.
- Antibiotic: Type of medicine that kills or slows the growth of bacteria
- Antibiotic Class: A grouping of antibiotics that are similar
- Antibiotic Growth Promotion: Giving farm animals antibiotics to increase their size in order to produce and sell more meat. (*Side note: This is different than giving “medicated” feed to chicks, which contains a coccidiostat, which treats and prevents coccidian.)
- Antibiotic Resistance: The result of bacteria changing in ways that reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is one type of antimicrobial resistance
- Antibiotic Stewardship: Coordinated efforts to improve the use of antimicrobials.
- Antimicrobial: A general term for drugs, chemicals, or other substances that either kill or slow the growth of microorganisms among the antimicrobial agents in use today are antibacterial drugs, antiviral agents, antifungal agents, and anti-parasitic drugs.
- Antimicrobial Resistance: The result of microorganisms changing in ways that reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents used to cure or prevent infections.
- Broad-Spectrum Antibiotic: An antibiotic that is effective against a wide range of bacteria.