Antibiotic alternatives not as reliable, Mountaire veterinarian says

MountaireFarms director of health services, G. Donald Ritter, is “very concerned” about theavailability of antibiotics to treat poultry in the future, adding thatalternative remedies just haven’t measured up. Ritter, also a veterinarian,made those comments during a panel discussion that can be seen on an onlinevideo.

Mountaire Farms director of health services G. Donald Ritter expresses concerns about the availability of antibiotics to treat poultry, and the effectiveness of alternatives.
Mountaire Farms director of health services G. Donald Ritter expresses concerns about the availability of antibiotics to treat poultry, and the effectiveness of alternatives.

Mountaire Farms director of health services G. Donald Ritter is "very concerned" about the availability of antibiotics to treat poultry in the future, adding that alternative remedies just haven't measured up. Ritter, also a veterinarian, made those comments during a panel discussion that can be seen on an online video.

Ritter noted that some antibiotics - such as sarafloxacin and enroflaxacin - had been approved but were later withdrawn from the market. Any similar disappearances of antibiotics for poultry would be tough for the industry, he said.

"When we use an FDA approved antibiotic, we know what it's going to do. It's going to do it every time at the dose prescribed. It's going to work the same way, because they've vetted it out. It's been through the rigors. It's been through the millions of dollars of approval process," said Ritter. "When we use something that's not FDA regulated, it's the Wild, Wild West. There are no standards, there's no quality control, there's no hurdles."

Ritter was joined on the panel discussion by William Flynn, deputy director  for science policy at the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine; Randy Singer, associate professor with the University of Minnesota's Department of Veterinary and Biomedial Sciences; and Stephen Sutherland, senior director of regulatory affairs at Zoetis. The discussion was hosted by WATTAgNet.com and sponsored by Zoetis.

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