Guidelines at a glance

• Antimicrobial drugs that FDA has deemed medically important to humans should be used in poultry and livestock only to prevent, control or treat a specific disease or organism.
• A Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) should be obtained from a licensed veterinarian before using any feeds containing medically important antibiotics; a veterinary prescription is required for medically important water medications.
• Medically important antibiotics should not be used solely for performance benefits, such as improved weight gain or feed conversion.
• Only those antibiotics not medically important to humans with approved FDA claims for increased growth rate and improved feed conversion should be used to optimize performance.
• Synthetic anticoccidials, ionophores and antibiotics not considered medically important to humans may be used without a VFD, though veterinary involvement is still encouraged for all antibiotic decisions.

For more information on VFDs, click here.