A key advisory committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week rejected the claim of the manufacturer Intervet, that its new cattle antibiotic cefquinome could be considered safe for human health. Cefquinome, proposed for use against respiratory disease in cattle, is a 4th generation cephalosporin, a class which includes the important human drug cefepime.

The surprise decision by the FDA’s Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee (VMAC) came at the end of a hearing on Monday, at which the American Medical Association, Infectious Disease Society of America, Keep Antibiotics Working coalition, and Union of Concerned Scientists, testified that use of cefepime in cattle could increase cephalosporin-resistant E. coli and Salmonella bacteria, two major causes of food poisoning.