virginiamycin

[ ver-jin-yuh-mahy-sin ]

noun

, Pharmacology.

1. any of various antibacterial substances derived from the bacterium Streptomyces virginiae, used in antibiotics and in animal feed as a growth stimulant.

Word History and Origins

Origin of virginiamycin¹

First recorded in 1960–65; from virginia(e), the specific epithet of the bacterium + -mycin ( def )

Example Sentences

Sanderson Farms has run ads defending its use of antibiotics but will now stop using an antibiotic called gentamicin to keep chicks healthy and another called virginiamycin in its feed.

From Washington Post

The Chicago-based chicken producer changed the language on its website after questions from Reuters about its use of virginiamycin, an antibiotic included in a class considered "highly important" to fighting infections in humans.

From Reuters

At the time, Koch said it has no plans to discontinue the use of virginiamycin, which it says may be used to prevent a common intestinal infection in chicken.

From Reuters

Detectable amounts of five antibiotics were found in the seafood samples: oxytetracycline in wild shrimp, farmed tilapia, farmed salmon and farmed trout; 4-epioxytetracycline in farmed salmon; sulfadimethoxine in farmed shrimp; ormetoprim in farmed salmon; and virginiamycin in farmed salmon that had been marketed as antibiotic-free.

From US News

Even fish marketed as antibiotic-free wasn’t off the hook: researchers found virginiamycin in one sample of farmed salmon bearing the label.

From Time