Antibiotics are used to prevent or treat disease or to encourage growth in animals intended for human consumption. Opinion is divided over the potential of the practice to cause health problems in people. This forum presents different perspectives from human and animal medicine experts.

The remarkable variation of views indicates the complexity of the debate. For some, there is no doubt that antibiotic use in animals causes resistance in people; for others, the link is present but unclear; and for the rest, not nearly enough is known to start taking action, and they suggest monitoring the situation. All agree, though, that whether in animals or people, antibiotics should be used with caution.

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