US researchers studying Virginiamycin use in poultry have determined that the use of antibiotics as growth promotors increases the risk of human antibiotic resistance.

The recent announcement that Pfizer Animal Health will purchase Embrex Inc. for over $150 million is an encouraging sign that multi-national pharmaceutical companies are re-evaluating the importance of the poultry industry.  By Simon Shane

Antibiotic growth promotion in agricultural animal production has been practiced for about 50 years. Antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) have undoubtedly improved animal performance and health status. Their removal from the poultry diets will therefore be a change with many consequences.

A new study by Johns Hopkins University researchers says that the poultry industry is losing money overall as a result of using antibiotics.

Hundreds of thousands of poultry, accounting for 80% of the tested poultry, could be actually rendered immune to the virus.

Using data from poultry giant Perdue, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that antibiotics slightly accelerated chicken growth, but that the benefit was offset by the cost of purchasing antibiotics.

A team of scientists think they may have uncovered clues as to why the H5N1 Avian flu virus is lethal to humans.

The US federal food safety inspection unit has approved an additional batch of additives, antimicrobials and agents for use as processing aids directly on meat and poultry products.

There has been a considerable increase in the number of Salmonella serovar Typhimurium DT104 infections over the past 10 years.

For more than a decade, women from the hilly northern part of Laos, have been encouraged to go into poultry breeding as a way of earning a living in Southeast Asia's poorest nation.