TETRACYCLINE ANTIBIOTICS IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND VETERINARY
There is an urgent need for the rational use of antimicrobial drugs to improve the effectiveness of the currently available treatments. The use of antibiotics in medicine and in crop and livestock systems has accelerated the selection and spread of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria. Antibiotic-resistant gut bacteria can be transmitted from livestock to humans through the fecal-oral route or through animal food and environmental pollution. Although the use of antimicrobial drugs in livestock and other human activities has now become an important political and scientific issue, they continue to be used globally in many countries around the world. Among them, tetracyclines are a chemical group of great importance due to their widespread use in agriculture, surpassing those used by almost all other families of antibiotics. Since significant amounts of tetracyclines are used worldwide, monitoring of these antibiotics is of paramount importance. Progress is needed in antibiotic analysis to assess the correct use and dosage of tetracyclines in food and feed, and possible residues in relevant environmental samples. The review presents an analysis of the data of modern studies aimed at studying the problem of antibiotic resistance of the tetracycline group caused by antimicrobial drugs in world agricultural practice. The newest screening tests that facilitate the monitoring and assessment of levels of tetracycline residues in various areas of human activity are considered, and data on existing and potential alternatives to tetracycline antibiotics in animal husbandry are provided.