Fears Mount Over Killer Superbugs, But Simple Steps on Farms Can Help

Norway, where the use of antibiotics is strictly controlled, has swapped antibiotics for vaccines in salmon farming.

The Netherlands, the world’s second largest food exporter, has cut antimicrobial use in poultry and livestock sectors by 64 percent by making antibiotics use on farms transparent and cutting the use of medically important antibiotics in animals.

A recent paper from the University of Bristol in Britain, which has multiple projects on antimicrobial resistance, analyzed data from commercial dairy farms in southwest England.

Stopping the use of medically important antibiotics and reducing antibiotics overall use did not negatively affect cattle health or milk production, it said.

Pressure

But the European experience is far cry from emerging market nations facing pressure to feed their growing populations and where changing diets have led to demand for more meat.

As growing and wealthier populations consume more meat, antibiotic use in agriculture is expected to increase by 67 percent between 2010 and 2030, according to the World Bank. In Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa, antibiotic use could double in the same period.

The World Bank is exploring whether financial incentives may help smaller, domestic-focused food producers in the developing world, said Enis Barıs, the World Bank’s lead on antimicrobial resistance.

The World Bank is also looking to see if its loans and investments could be tailored to help tackle drug resistance, such as when establishing a public health laboratory network in East Africa or improving disease surveillance in West Africa, he added.

Meanwhile pressure from the consumer to eat meat free of antibiotics has spurred moves to curb their use.

In the U.S., it was the consumers who forced the country’s largest poultry producers and fast food outlets, including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Chipotle, to rid antibiotics from their chickens.

“No one can escape the effects of antimicrobial resistance,” the FAO’s Semedo said. “When antibiotics fail, we all lose.”