Definitions for terms used in the classification scheme for interventions
| Terminology | Definition |
| Antibiotic growth promoter | Administration of subtherapeutic doses of antibiotics to stimulate growth in animals or to increase feed efficiency.27 167 |
| Non-therapeutic antibiotic use | Administration of antibiotics to animals without identifiable infectious disease.167 This includes antibiotic use for growth promotion, disease prophylaxis and metaphylaxis. |
| Metaphylaxis | Treatment of a group of animals without evidence of disease, but which are likely in an incubation phase, due to being in close contact with clinically diseased animals.26 |
| Prophylaxis | Administration of antibiotics to animals at high risk of infectious disease (but without current disease and where there is no known disease in the herd or flock).167 Prophylaxis is commonly used when environmental conditions or changes portend increased risk for infection. Examples of such conditions include transport of animals and confining animals to small, crowded spaces.167 |
| Therapeutic antibiotic use | Administration of antibiotics to treat animals with clinical evidence of infectious disease only.27 167 |