Antibiotic Resistant Super Bugs Seen In Animals As Well As Humans

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Well, we have finally done it. Our overuse of antibiotics is selecting for “super bugs” of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotic therapy that threatens world health. As patients, pet owners, and doctors, we are all too quick to treat symptoms with antibiotics rather spend the time and money to work-up cases to find if bacterial infection is really the problem. As consumers and food producers we have been too eager to ensure a cheap supply of animal protein by the use of antibiotics. It appears we are now paying the price for our choices.

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Dr. Keiji Fukuda, MD of the World Health Organization (WHO), warns that “common infections and minor injuries can kill” due to antibiotic resistance.

Dr. Fukuda’s Report on Antibiotic Resistance

In 2014 Dr. Fukuda issued a report to the World Health Organization titled “Antimicrobial resistance: global report on surveillance 2014.” This report shared data on the present state of antimicrobial drug resistance and called for more shared data to identify the extent of the problem. His own data surveyed information from 114 countries. The results are alarming. Fifty percent of isolated bacteria in many countries are resistant to antibiotics commonly used to treat these infections. Life threatening bacteria like E. coli, Staphylococcus and Klebsiella are now resistant to the last drug of resort to combat these bacterial infections. One-in-five countries report bacterial resistance to the most common treatment for E. colibacteria.

The report cites two major causes for this problem: the accelerated use of antibiotic use in humans and animals, and the lack of new antibiotics to replace ineffective ones. The report emphasizes that the use of the same drugs for human disease as animal disease, particularly animals raised for food, contributes to the cross species drug resistance problem. Because we may share the same bacteria with food producing species, genetic resistance to antibiotics in food animals can be transferred to us and our pets. But the problem is not isolated to antibiotic use in livestock. The report states:

“In many countries, the total amount of antibiotics use in animals (both food-producing and companion animals), measured as gross weight, exceeds the quantity used in the treatment of disease in humans.”

Dr. Fukuda calls for “global recognition of the need to avoid inappropriate antimicrobial uses and to reduce the administration of those drugs in animal husbandry and aquaculture as well as reducing their use in humans.

What is Being Done About Antibiotic Resistance?

The FDA has asked pharmaceutical companies to withdraw drug approval for the administration of antibiotic drugs in livestock that promote growth or increased feed efficiency in livestock. They have threatened regulatory action against non-compliance. More than 24 drug companies have agreed to comply.

What Can You and Your Veterinarian Do?

When your veterinarian recommends an antibiotic for a disease symptom ask for a rationale. He/she should be able to tell you the probability of bacterial infection as the cause and the justification for antibiotic use. If the rationale is equivocal and requires further diagnostics, inquire into the cost and relevance of potential findings and the importance of antibiotics for those treatments.

Antibiotics have revolutionized human health worldwide. We have a responsibility to not abuse them. Let the body do what it does best: heal.

Dr. Ken Tudor writing for PetMD

About Post Author

Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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9 years ago

We’re doomed again then? 😉 PARTY TIME!!! If we’re doomed lets go out with a good party and sod worrying about everything. No point. What will be will be chaps and chapesses.

Whose buying the first round then?

9 years ago

Well, if we’re lucky, maybe climate change will get us first.

9 years ago

…not prophetically….prophylactically.

9 years ago

I lobbied the EPA about this issue as far back as 1997…at the same time we were lobbying about endocrine disruptors.

AT THAT TIME we were raising concerns about the fact that fluoroquinolones http://bit.ly/1lA8mMH were the last resort for campylobacter http://bit.ly/1nxgdWS and other organisms that had evolved resistance to more mainstream drugs. This accelerated evolution arose from the use of antibiotics in feed and prophylactic applications to livestock.

Of course, livestock farmers were just dying to use fluoroquinolones prophetically, because the other antibiotics were rapidly becoming ineffective. Did the FDA ban the use of our antibiotic of last resort in cattle or other livestock? http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/FDAVeterinarianNewsletter/ucm089486.htm
How’s compliance worldwide? http://meatmanagement.com/concern-over-fluoroquinolone-antibiotics-in-poultry-production/

We are justifiably worried about Ebola. But the organisms that wipe us out will be far more ubiquitous. And we are deliberately breeding these organisms…or at least the money-guys in big agriculture are doing so. We may as well be developing chemical weapons to unleash on ourselves.

There’s a term for this situation: S.O.L.

Rachael
9 years ago

Scary!!!!! What’s next?

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