Emerging Resistance from Antibiotics in Animal Feed

More than a dozen federal agencies have an interest in the problem of antimicrobial resistance, and several of these agencies have responsibilities regarding the use of antimicrobials in agriculture. Coordinated interagency efforts toward an effective public health response to the problem began several years ago. The FDA’s CVM collaborates with the CDC, as well as the USDA to monitor antimicrobial resistance among enteric bacteria in humans, animals, and retail meats through a surveillance program called NARMS (National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System).

CVM has developed guidance for industry that outlines a risk assessment approach for evaluating the microbial food safety of antimicrobial new animal drugs and possible risk management steps. In addition to work being done by CVM, veterinary practitioner groups, and producer groups have developed prudent and judicious antimicrobial drug use programs to help vets and producers make safe and sound decisions about the use of these products in animal production.

“Bacteria are resilient and will develop the ability to survive in harsh conditions, such as exposure to an antibiotic challenge,” says AMI’s Huffman.” The emergence of antibiotic resistant organisms is not a new phenomenon and has been recognized for 50 years, interestingly not long after penicillin became widely available. With increased use of a variety of antibiotics, both for treating humans and animals, the development of resistance have increased.”

For more information please contact Larry Hollis, antimicrobial researcher at Kansas State University, 785-532-1246, Tom Chiller, MD, chief medical epidemiologist, Foodborne Disease Branch, Centers for Disease Control, 404-371-5406, Linda Grassie, Food and Drug Administration, at Linda.[email protected] or Randall Huffman, Ph.D., v.p. Scientific Affairs American Meat Institute Foundation, 202-587-4233, [email protected].