In the next 15 years, the worldwide use of antibiotics for livestock will increase according to a new study. This raises serious concerns over the effect of the trend on the growing problem of drug-resistant pathogens.

The researchers have predicted a 67 percent rise in antibiotics globally in 2010-2030 in food animals. Antibiotics are often used on food animals for increasing productivity and treating diseases. Animal consumption makes up 80 percent of antibiotic sales in the US.

Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan, a senior research scholar at the Princeton Environmental Institute at Princeton University, New Jersey, was a senior author of the study. He said, “The invention of antibiotics was a major public health revolution of the 20th century. Their effectiveness - and the lives of millions of people around the world - are now in danger due to the increasing global problem of antibiotic resistance, which is being driven by antibiotic consumption.”

The researchers said that 66 percent of the forecast growth will come from the increased number of animals raised for foods, which in turn will be driven by rising demand, especially in middle-income countries.

Brazil, South Africa, India, Russia and China will see dramatic increases, with a 99 percent increase in antibiotic consumption, however, they will only see a 13 percent increase in human populations in the time period.

According to study co-author Tim Robinson, Principal Scientist from the International Livestock Research Institute, the dramatic increase in use of antibiotics for food animals will disproportionately affect millions of poor people who raise their foods on their own.