Pork, Beef, Salmon — ‘Buried’ Reports Tie Another Meat Product To Increased Superbug Risk

Newly discovered reports have linked Australian salmon farms to excessive antibiotic use, raising concerns about the risk of superbugs in salmon. Two large-scale salmon farms in southern Tasmania used over a ton of antibiotics to combat a bacterial infection in their fish stocks. Despite this, the farms and the Tasmanian government did not disclose this information to the public until months later.

The antibiotics used, oxytetracycline and trimethoprim, are considered highly important for human health by the World Health Organization. Overuse of these antibiotics in fish farming can lead to the development of superbugs that are resistant to even the strongest antibiotics. To address this issue, the WHO advocates for animal vaccinations in food production as a more sustainable alternative to antibiotics. Efforts are being made to update regulations in the Tasmanian salmon industry to prevent antibiotic overuse and ensure the vaccination of all farmed salmon against diseases like vibrio anguillarum.