Efforts to curb the use of antimicrobials in farm animals and stem resistance to crucial antimicrobial medicines are at risk after layoffs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine earlier this month, warn legal experts and public health interest groups.
Excessive use of antimicrobials in farm animals contributes to the development of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, a problem that killed 1.14 million people globally in a single year. Antimicrobials are a group of drugs that kill microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi.
On April 1, the Trump administration began laying off some 10,000 staff in a planned restructuring of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Those let go include more than 140 leaders and staff, including several veterinarians at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), including Tristan Colonius, the Center’s chief veterinary officer, according to news reports.
The layoffs affect personnel working on antimicrobial resistance, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) confirmed to U.S. Right to Know.
