Antibiotics are sometimes given to sick animals, but their main use is as growth promoters [1]. Animals that are regularly fed low doses of antibiotics grow fas

Antibiotics are sometimes given to sick animals, but their main use is as growth promoters [1]. Animals that are regularly fed low doses of antibiotics grow faster, meaning that they can be slaughtered earlier and the overall cost of rearing the animal is therefore reduced. "The effectiveness of synercid, a drug of last resort for the treatment of vancomycin-resistant infections, is threatened because of the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter in chickens and pigs in the United States. Virginiamycin is chemically related to synercid, and bacteria resistant to the one drug also appear to be resistant to the other." [2] [1] http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/animalcare/amr/facts/05-041.htm http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/animalcare/amr... [2] http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/prescription-for-trouble.html http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-...