The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has granted a 60-day extension for the comment period on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) action plan for combating antibiotic resistance. The comment period now closes on June 14.

The request for the 60-day extension was made by members of the Animal Agriculture Coalition, including the National Chicken Council, to provide sufficient time to review the detailed and extensive nature of the recommendations contained in the action plan.  The document is a revision of the 2001 interagency action plan and provides an updated blueprint for specific, coordinated Federal action to address emerging threats of antibiotic resistance.  It covers a broad spectrum of antibiotic issues, addressing resistance in a wide range of pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites) and settings (human medicine, veterinary medicine, agriculture, and animal production).  Action items in the plan are organized into four areas:  surveillance, prevention and control, research, and product development.