Veterinary Antibiotics as an Emerging Class of Environmental Contaminants: Urgent Measures are Needed

Abstract

The discovery of antibiotics was a key breakthrough of the 20^th century in human and veterinary medicine. Antibiotics are essential for maintaining human and animal health, and their health and economic benefits are unquestionable, but their use is also associated with their continuous release into the environment and the resulting risks to the environment and human health. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), driven by excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics, has emerged as one of the leading public health threats of the 21^st century. The European Commission identifies AMR as one of the top three priority health threats, causing an annual estimate of 1.27 million deaths globally with direct health care costs of US$ 66 billion (McDonnell et al., 2024; Murray et al., 2022).