that asserts: "antibiotic use in food animals contributes to the emergence of resistant bacteria that may affect humans". it is difficult to set up a comprehensive surveillance system for measuring rates of change in antibiotic resistance. the us government accountability office published a report in 2011 stating that government and commercial agencies had not been collecting sufficient data to make a decision about best practices. there is also no regulatory agency in the united states that systematically collects detailed data on antibiotic use in humans and animals, which means it is not clear which antibiotics are prescribed for which purpose and at what time. while this may be lacking at a regulatory level, the us poultry meat sector has been working on the issue of data collection itself, and has now reported comparative data showing significant reductions in antibiotic use. among the highlights in the report was a 95% decrease in in-feed tetracycline use in broiler chicks from 2013 to 2017, a 67% reduction in in-feed use of tetracycline in turkeys, and a 42% drop in hatchery use of gentamicin in turkey poults. this is an encouraging sign; the 53% overall reduction in antibiotic use seen in the uk between 2013 and 2018 was initiated from a voluntary stewardship programme developed by the uk poultry meat sector. research into alternatives global antibiotic use in livestock under reduction scenarios increasing concern due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has led researchers to look for alternatives to using antibiotics in livestock. probiotics, cultures of a single bacteria strain or mixture of different strains, are being studied in livestock as a production enhancer. prebiotics are non-digestible carbohydrates. the carbohydrates are mainly made up of oligosaccharides which are short chains of monosaccharides. the two most commonly studied prebiotics are fructooligosaccharides (fos) and mannanoligosaccharides (mos). fos has been studied for use in chicken feed. mos works as a competitive binding site, as bacteria bind to it rather than the intestine and are carried out. bacteriophages are able to infect most bacteria and are easily found in most environments colonized by bacteria, and have been studied as well. in another study it was found that using probiotics, competitive exclusion, enzymes, immunomodulators and organic acids prevents the spread of bacteria and can all be used in place of antibiotics. another research team was able to use bacteriocins, antimicrobial peptides and bacteriophages in the control of bacterial infections. while further research is needed in this field, alternative methods have been identified in effectively controlling bacterial infections in animals. other alternatives include preventative approaches to keep the animals healthier and so reduce the need for antibiotics. these include improving the living conditions for animals, stimulating natural immunity through better nutrition, increasing biosecurity, implementing better management and hygiene practices, and ensuring better use of vaccination.