"A major breakthrough was the development of the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics (including enrofloxacin, its counterpart for human use ciprofloxacin, and several others)."
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_enrofloxacin.htmlApparently, it's now prescribed for just about anything <only a little sarcasm>
On edit: Here's an letter expressing concern about overuse of Baytril in feed animals...
"August 18, 2004
<snip>
Dear Dr. Crawford:
This letter concerns the most recent effort by the Bayer Corporation to further delay enforcement of FDA’s well-founded decision to withdraw approval for the use of Baytril and other fluoroquinolone antibiotics in poultry.
It has been more than three years since FDA first proposed this rule to safeguard the efficacy of this important class of drugs for human medicine and nearly six months since the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) rejected Bayer’s appeal of FDA’s ruling. During that time, Abbott Laboratories, the only other company that has marketed a fluoroquinolone for use in poultry, has properly removed their product, sarafloxacin, from the market.
However, Bayer’s continued refusal to comply can only serve to increase the population of human pathogens that are resistant to fluoroquinolones, putting greater numbers of consumers who contract foodborne illness at risk of more serious or prolonged infections, or even death. Clearly the time for enforcement is past due. Bayer has had its day in court and lost. It is incumbent upon the FDA to act quickly to protect public health."
more...
http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_food_safety/001316.html