Antibiotic misuse Antibiotic misuse Antibiotic misuse, sometimes called antibiotic abuse or antibiotic overuse, refers to the misuse or overuse of antibiotics, with potentially serious effects on health. It is a contributing factor to the development of antibiotic resistance, including the creation of multidrug-resistant bacteria, informally called "super bugs": relatively harmless bacteria (such as staphylococcus, enterococcus and acinetobacter) can develop resistance to multiple antibiotics and cause life-threatening infections. Antibiotics have been around since 1928 when penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming. In the 1980s, antibiotics that were determined medically important for treatment of animals could be approved under veterinary oversight. In 1996, the
Antibiotic prophylaxis 2006 against antibiotics for growth promotion purposes. It was estimated in 2014 that over 80% of the world's antibiotic use was on farms. Coccidiosis in fowl had evolved increased tolerance to the antibiotic feed. The WHO warned in April 2014 that farm use was a contributor to superbugs in humans. The Auditor General of Canada found lack of progress in 2014 on antimicrobial resistance despite three years of government funds that should have been used to implement a reduction programme. A CBC writer was concerned that there was in Canada "no coordinated national system to control antibiotics in agriculture." Due