<http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm299054.htm?source=govdelivery> Part of the move to reduce levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Previously in the U.S. a range of antibiotics have been used by factory farms to permit optimal growth despite very crowded and less sanitary conditions. Similar restrictions have been imposed inother nations with no significant increase in farm illnesses as long as the farm conditions are prevented from being overly crowded and too unclean, especially if imposed wounds like beak cropping end. As per previous article shared with you there was a recent court order to impose these restrictions to some more antibiotics since decades of data since the 1990s clearly demonstrate that the concerns expressed then by the FDA are accurate. More on this is in the separate archives of the Ferret Health List. The reason that controlling the misuse of this class of meds and others that have been or are being banned from their chronic misuse on farms (especially factory farms), is on topic is because some of those infections can be passed through raw meat and raw eggs to ferrets, and shiga toxin producing E. coli also has a toxin that can too often survive cooking, so this actually could ultimately create a safer situation for those who sometimes feed raw foods at times. [Posted in FML 7389]