Chloramphenicol, a livestock antibiotic linked to a recent food scare
in Europe, was banned for use in Canadian food animals a decade ago,
said Trish Dowling of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in
Saskatoon.
Earlier this month, the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization urged countries to ban the drug after residues were found
in a German-raised calf. The organization expressed concern over the
drug entering the human food chain.
Dowling noted the drug can still be prescribed in Canada for humans, as
well as small animals and horses.
Effective for battling diseases like typhoid, chloramphenicol is often
used in refugee camps in the Third World, she said.
It was banned for general use in Canada after it was linked to a fatal
anemia in humans. It is still used in some countries in animal
production and aquaculture.
