Managing Antibiotic Resistance in Animal Agriculture amidst Conflicting Moral Beliefs and Scientific Uncertainty

Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, United States

Summary

The moral imperative to use antibiotics for treating bacterial diseases in both humans and animals is obvious. Less obvious are the moral beliefs, social norms, and behavioral constraints (e.g., economic realities in a competitive industry) that face food animal producers and their consulting veterinarians. Anti-infective products such as antibiotics are unlike other technologies used in medicine and agriculture in that resistance