The surging prevalence of foodborne zoonotic diseases in the U.S. is creating a huge requirement for animal healthcare products. Such diseases are caused by the intake of water or food contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms, such as viruses, parasites, and bacteria. These disease-causing microorganisms enter the animal body through the gastrointestinal tract, where the initial symptoms are observed. Most common foodborne zoonotic diseases are caused by listeria, salmonella, E. coli, campylobacter, yersinia, trichinella, cryptosporidium, toxoplasma, giardia, and toxins of Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium botulinum, which can be eliminated by certain animal healthcare products.

Additionally, the increasing domestic consumption and export of meat and milk will support the U.S. animal healthcare market growth in the coming years. For instance, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), between January 2021 and May 2021, the country exported 408,896 metric tons (mt), 325,747 mt, 174,280 mt, 92,437 mt, 81,203 mt, 57,723 mt, 59,604 mt, and 56,290 mt pork to China/Hong Kong, Mexico, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Central America, South America, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) members, respectively.

Moreover, the growing adoption of companion animals in the U.S. will fuel the consumption of animal healthcare products in the forthcoming years. The 2019–2020 National Pet Owners Survey by the American Pet Products Association (APPA) states that dogs, cats, and freshwater fish were the most-widely adopted pets in the country. According to the survey, there were 63.4 million dog owners, 42.7 million cat owners, and 11.5 million freshwater fish owners in the country during 2019–2020. The APPA further states that the people of the U.S. also adopt horses, reptiles, saltwater fish, and birds for companionship.

Owners of such companion animals provide feed additives, parasiticides, vaccines, anti-infectives, anti-inflammatories, oncological products, sedatives for pain relief, antiemetic products, and drugs for reproductive problems to their pets, to maintain their health and protect them from various diseases. In recent years, the U.S. has been observing a large-scale consumption of ectoparasiticides, a type of parasiticide, owing to the escalating concerns regarding animal health among companion animal owners. Other types of parasiticides being used in the country are endectocides and endoparasiticides.

In recent years, companies operating in the U.S. animal healthcare market have been focusing on mergers and acquisitions and partnerships to capture a vast customer base. For example, in May 2018, Zoetis Inc. acquired Abaxis Inc., a veterinary point-of-care diagnostic instruments provider. Some of the other companies opting for such measures are Elanco Animal Health, C.H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. KG, Vetoquinol S.A, Bayer AG, HIPRA, Virbac Group, Huvepharma, Ceva Santé Animale, and Dechra Pharmaceuticals plc.

Thus, the rising prevalence of foodborne zoonotic diseases, surging domestic consumption and exports of milk and meat, and increasing adoption of companion animals will accelerate the consumption of animal healthcare products in the U.S. in the foreseeable future.