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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/opinion/30wed3.html?th&emc=th"><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/opinion/30wed3.html?th&emc=th</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#A81817" SIZE=1 FACE="Arial">June 29, 2010</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=5 FACE="Georgia">Antibiotics and Agricultur</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=5 FACE="Georgia">e</FONT></B></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">The Food and Drug Administration is taking some long overdue but still too timid steps to rein in excessive use of antibiotics in American agriculture. For</FONT> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">years now industrial and many smaller-scale farmers have routinely fed antibiotics to their cattle, pigs and chickens to protect them from infectious diseases but also to spur growth and weight gain while using less feed. That may be good for agricultural</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia"></FONT> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">production, but it is almost surely bad for the public</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">’</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">s health. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">An alarming number of human pathogens have become resistant to one or more medicines, undermining the ability of doctors to treat patients effectively. Experts believe the primary cause is o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">verprescribing in human patients, often for conditions like colds, where antibiotics are ineffective. But overuse of antibiotics in farm animals is also thought to be stimulating the emergence of resistant bacterial strains that can infect humans or pass</FONT> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">t</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">heir resistance to other germs that infect humans. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">On Monday, the F.D.A. issued a “draft guidance” on the “judicious use” of medically important antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals. The document suggested that the use of such drugs should be lim</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">ited to treating or controlling infectious disease in animals or to prevent infections before an outbreak occurs. And in all of those cases, the drugs should be administered in consultation with a veterinarian whose oversight would likely restrain excessi</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">v</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">e use. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">The draft guidance is a statement of principles that is open for comment and could ultimately lead to regulatory action. Past efforts to restrict agricultural antibiotics have had only limited success; the powerful agricultural lobbies usually prev</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">ail over public health advocates. We can only hope that the F.D.A. will be more successful this time</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Georgia">. </FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A NAME=""><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Deborah L. DeBiasi</FONT></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><B><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Email: Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov</FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><I></I></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><I></I></B></SPAN><B><I><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#FF0000" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">(NEW!)<BR>
</FONT></SPAN></I></B><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">WEB site address: www.deq.virginia.gov</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Virginia Department of Environmental Quality</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Office of Water Permit and Compliance Assistance Programs</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">www.deq.virginia.gov/vpdes/microconstituents.html</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 2321</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">8</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><I></I></B></SPAN><B><I><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN></I></B><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><BR>
</SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">PH: 804-698-4028</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">FAX: 804-698-4032</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN></P>
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