India, Sept. 4 -- A new FAO technical brief finds traditional herbal medicines could help reduce antimicrobial use in livestock, but warns that limited evidence on safety, efficacy and quality prevents international endorsement.

Variability in plant compounds, lack of standardisation and uneven regulations pose major hurdles, prompting calls for more research, validation and responsible, science-based oversight before wider adoption.

Traditional herbal medicines (THMs) are emerging as a potentially useful alternative to antimicrobials in livestock, but evidence on their safety, efficacy and quality remains insufficient to support international use, standard setting and regulation, says a new technical brief by the Food and Agriculture O...