U.S. sales of antibiotics used in farm animals rose at an alarming rate over the last five years, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday, fueling concerns about risks to humans from antibiotic-resistant bacteria. According to a new report, sales of medically important antimicrobials used in food-producing animals in the U.S. increased 3% between 2013 and 2014 and sales are up by 22% since 2009, when the agency began reporting the figures. For one critically important class of drugs, cephalosporins, which are often used to treat ear and urinary tract infections, sales increased by 57% from 2009 to 2014, despite FDA placing restrictions on certain uses of them in 2012. Public health advocates, scientists and civil society organisations have criticised the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock, arguing that it is fueling the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The increased sales of antibiotics approved for use in livestock in 2014 are “disgraceful since it came after the FDA issued voluntary guidance they claimed would actually reduce the use of antibiotics in agriculture,” U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat of New York, was quoted by Reuters. The FDA guidelines were released in 2013 with the aim of convincing drug makers and agricultural companies to phase out the use of antibiotics as a growth enhancer in livestock. The agency said the antibiotics could still be used to treat illnesses in animals raised for meat, but should otherwise be pared back by December 2016 under a program to keep them out of the human food supply. According to a report published by the United States Department of Agriculture in November, the share of broilers raised without antibiotics except for disease treatment rose from 44 to 48% between 2006 and 2011, which means that the majority of broilers were still given antibiotics for growth promotion. The use of antibiotics is also widespread on beef and cow-calf operations: In 2011, more than three-quarters of feedlots with at least 1,000 head provided antibiotics in feed or water, where the purpose is often growth promotion, USDA reported. (ab)