Overuse and misuse of antibiotics in food is rife in Southeast Asia, a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official said on Wednesday, warning of serious risks for people and animals as bacterial infections become more resistant to treatment. The warning followed a similar statement from the WHO, which in September last year said that the Southeast Asia region, home to a quarter of the world’s population, was at risk of the emergence and spread of antimicrobial drug resistance. Weak surveillance systems and a lack of data make it difficult to estimate the true scale of antibiotic resistance in the WHO South East Asia region.