From: Christina Fong [cfong@christinafong.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 12:22 PM
To: EXECSEC
Subject: Antibiotics and livestock

Dear Jane E. Henney, M.D.:

I urge you to collect and report data on the quantity of antibiotics used in U.S.
agriculture. With incoming Bush administration officials at the FDA, creating a
federal antibiotic reporting system should be a top priority.

The rise in antibiotic resistance is slowly eliminating the
effectiveness of these drugs for treating infectious
diseases in people.  While the misuse of antibiotics in
human medicine is the larger contributor to the problem,
there is agreement among public health experts that the
overuse of antibiotics in agriculture is also impacting
human health by contributing to the rise in drug-resistant
microorganisms.

Government-guaranteed information
on U.S. antibiotic use is necessary for creating effective
solutions for reducing antibiotic use.  The Food and Drug
Administration has recognized the need for collecting such
information, but it has not taken steps to establish the
needed system.

The FDA should move now to establish a system for collecting
basic data on agricultural antibiotic use in the United
States.  The information should be collected for both human
and agricultural use and should include the class,
indication, dosage, and treatment period.

Sincerely,

Christina Fong
1444 Dewberry Place #1 NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49505