Antimicrobial use in animals for the purposes of disease treatment, disease control, disease prevention, growth promotion, and feed efficiency has increased by about 5% from 2006 to 2007, according to information from the Animal Health Institute.

The increase in antimicrobial usage may be due in part to the fact that meat production in the U.S. increased by more than 2 billion pounds from 2006 to 2007. Specifically, the percentage of antimicrobials used for growth and efficiency rose in 2007 from 5% to 13%, although the actual change in use was likely smaller due to revisions to manufacturers figures from previous years.