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The CDFA Antimicrobial Use & Stewardship (AUS) program is working with subject matter experts to provide
voluntary antibiotic stewardship guidelines and best management practices that are practical and financially feasible.
The program will assist producers and veterinarians in minimizing the use of medically important antibiotics and
recommend scientifically validated alternatives to antibiotics.
The law requires that the CDFA gather information on sales, usage, and bacterial resistance of medically important
antibiotics as well as livestock management practices from willing participants. Many current reports use the tonnage
of antibiotics sold to suggest antibiotic use in livestock is abundant or inappropriate. This interpretation of data is
erroneous as it does not reflect the purpose of use (production efficiency vs disease treatment, control or prevention),
the weight of the animal, or the effective antibiotic regimen (dose, frequency and duration).
The California Animal Health Monitoring System will be conducting voluntary and anonymous surveys to inform
antibiotic stewardship guidance and give California producers an opportunity to showcase current and future success
in utilizing antibiotic stewardship practices. If you receive a survey in the mail from CDFA-AUS, UC Davis, or USDA-
NAHMS, please seriously consider representing California agriculture and participate. All information gathered will be
held confidential per the statutory provisions of the law, including from FOIA and PRA requests.
For additional information, please visit our website:
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/AUSPlease email questions to:
CDFA_AUS@cdfa.ca.goveview airy
California
Volume 21 Issue 5
May 2017
Antibiotic Use in Livestock
New California Law Effective: January 1, 2018
The use of antibiotics in livestock to treat, control and prevent
disease is an invaluable tool that allows producers and
veterinarians the opportunity to improve general animal health
and well-being, thus providing a safe and quality product
to consumers. There is growing concern that antibiotic use
in livestock is contributing to the development of antibiotic
resistance in people. While the evidence to support or deny this
association is lacking, antibiotic resistance is a real and natural
event that threatens the ability of a limited arsenal of antibiotic
options to work properly against disease. The intent of the new
California law is to preserve the efficacy and ensure availability of
antibiotics for use in livestock health management.
Effective January 1, 2018, over the counter injectable and all
other medically important antibiotics must be administered with
a prescription or veterinary feed directive (VFD) ordered by a
licensed veterinarian through a valid veterinarian-client-patient
relationship (VCPR).