The rise of drug-resistant germs, caused by overuse of antibiotics, is one of the world’s most nettlesome health predicaments. While Elanco is developing antibiotic alternatives for animals, like vaccines and enzymes, the antibiotics promoted by the Pig Zero campaign are exactly the kinds that global public health officials are trying to curb. “By the time people understand and believe it,” Dr. Hansen said, “it may be too late.”Elanco had already been put on notice about the drugs used in its Pig Zero push. One of the drugs, tiamulin, has been a top seller for Elanco; the W.H.O. Pig Zero trumpets the benefits of coupling tiamulin with chlortetracycline, a drug made by Elanco’s competitors that both American and international regulators consider medically important to humans.

Source: International New York Times June 07, 2019 15:11 UTC