Sustainable Agriculture: Use of Hormones and Antibiotics in Animal Production

Student Name
Instructor’s Name
Class Information
Date
Use of Hormones and Antibiotics in Animal Production
The Basic Underlying Science
In livestock, antibiotics are employed therapeutically (treatment of clinically ill animals), for prophylaxis (to mitigate the vulnerability to infections in healthy animals), and for metaphylaxis (treatment of ill animals within the same cluster as healthy animals). In different jurisdictions, wide-ranging antimicrobials and hormones are also employed in livestock to boost growth and development (for example, feed additives). Research by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicates that out of the approved 41 antibiotics for use in livestock in 2020 in the United States (U.S.), only 30 are tested to be medically crucial for human medicinal use (Rhouma et al. 3). The basic underlying science regarding the employment of hormones and antibiotics in livestock production is anchored on the interplay between drug classification and antimicrobial resistance. Drug classification is a tool for addressing antimicrobial resistance against clinically significant antimicrobials. Restricting the utilization of the clinically crucial antimicrobials in humans and farm animals potentially prolongs their utility in both health scenarios (Rhouma et al. 3). Another recent research indicated that indiscriminate employment of antimicrobials and hormones in animal production results in drug resistance that threatens both human and animal health (Ma et al. 2). Antimicrobial resistance in livestock also significantly impacts animal health and could be linked to resistant illness in humans. These arguments above support the One Health approach, reiterating the need for an integrated framework designed to sustainably balance and foster health at the human-animal-ecosystem interface (Rhouma et al. 2).
Social, Political, and Policy Ramifications of the Issue
Surveillance and monitoring of antimicrobial usage in animals are policy issues in different countries as they seek to address the health impacts of antimicrobial resistance. To address this issue, policymakers should develop standards to monitor the volumes of antimicrobials used in livestock. These policies might entail crafting recommendations about the antimicrobial usage data sources, the type of data to be tracked, and the options for reporting antimicrobial usage data (Rhouma et al. 5). In addition, the use of antibiotics or hormones in farm animals raises social concerns because it can lead to transmission of resistant bacteria and genes to humans, which interferes with their health outcomes (Katushabe 187). Other pote...