Antimicrobials as growth promoters : resistance to common sense

The antimicrobial era began in 1910 with the introduction of Salvarsan into the therapy of syphilis and expanded in the 1930s when the first chemotherapeuticals (sulphonamides) made their way into clinical use in human medicine. The antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered by Alexander Fleming (Fleming, 1929) but was not introduced for therapy until 1941. Shortly after its introduction for use in humans, penicillin was used in animals for the treatment of various bacterial diseases.

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