In a statement to mark International Antibiotic Awareness Week (Nov 18-24) the New Zealand Veterinary Association said it was timely to remind New Zealanders of the threat of resistance.
“After more than seventy years since the first use of penicillin in human medicine there are a number of bacteria in circulation across the world that are resistant to one or more antimicrobial drugs,” says NZVA president Dr Steve Merchant.
“Animal and human health have always been interlinked, and bacteria resistant to drug therapy can be passed from animals to humans, and vice versa. Therefore veterinarians and human health physicians have an obligation to continue to work together on this key issue.”
Merchant told Rural News a lot more information needs to be gathered in New Zealand to assess the risk and possible incidence of resistance to antimicrobials here.
Besides the potential for resistance to render products ineffective, which raises animal welfare and production considerations, there’s a danger that products effective as animal health remedies may be withdrawn by “the powers that be” if there’s correlation, or even just a concern of a correlation, between veterinary use and human [pathogen] resistance, he adds.
That’s particularly the case with drugs used in food producing animals such as dairy cows, beef animals and lambs, he notes.
To mitigate those risks, inappropriate use of antibiotics in farming – either because the antibiotic isn’t the best for that purpose, or because alternative methods of treatment or prevention could have prevented the need for the antibiotic – should be avoided.
“For example, using dry cow therapy because of poor hygiene: that sort of thing may mean we don’t have access to products in the future.”
The right product for the right disease is also a key. There have always been antibiotics that don’t work, or don’t work well, against certain pathogens. In some cases it may be that an older, probably cheaper product is the best to use, without going to the ‘top-shelf’ range. Equally, there will be times where the cheapest and easiest-to-use product isn’t the most appropriate.
Merchant stresses the importance of working with the vet, not just asking for the prescription.
“Consumer demand for antimicrobials to treat animal disease must be balanced by client/consumer education [including pet owners, as well as farmers and farm managers] to protect against poor or ineffective use which can encourage resistance to develop…. Veterinarians play the predominant role here, supported by industry and regulators to ensure consistent messages are delivered.”
