2 Aug 2021
Report highlights concerns about rise of remote prescribing within the industry, but extols the progress made across all vet sectors in keeping antibiotic use low.
Joshua Silverwood
Job Title
A report from the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) has called on vets and farmers to seize the advantage post-pandemic to keep antimicrobial resistance (AMR) down.
The report highlights concerns about the rise of remote prescribing within the industry, but extols the progress made across all vet sectors in keeping antibiotic use low.
RUMA was formed in 1997 to promote prudent use of antimicrobials due to the risk of AMR to human and animal health from irresponsible antimicrobial use.
Corresponding author for the report, Lisa Morgans – alongside a host of contributing UK vets and researchers – published “COVID-19 and antimicrobial resistance: the case for a one health approach” in which they also question whether production animals are the leading sector driving AMR.
Commenting on the progress made within the industry, the report read: “The impact of COVID-19 on veterinary prescribing is still emerging, but one consequence of the pandemic has been changes to the provision of veterinary care to companion and food production animals. This includes remote prescribing of antibiotics to safeguard animal health and welfare.
“The BVA has voiced concerns about the potential impact of AMR from excessive or irresponsible prescribing in the absence of physical examination.”
While antibiotic use in livestock farming globally is substantial, the UK has seen a decreasing trend across all livestock sectors during the past five years.
The paper continued: “In 2017, only 36% of national antibiotic consumption went to animals (26% for livestock species) compared to 64% for human health.
“Irrespective of the quantities of antibiotics used, evidence that antibiotic use in farming contributes significantly to resistance in human bacterial infections remains unclear, but working collaboratively across animal, human and planetary health will be key to further our understanding.”
The report goes on to detail how the strongest link between AMR in humans and farmed animals comes about as a result of food-borne pathogens such as Campylobacter and Salmonella. This is despite reduced antibiotic use in the poultry meat sector – a 76% reduction between 2012-19.
The report said: “These figures suggest that the blanket removal of antibiotics from livestock production systems will not necessarily reduce AMR genes in bacterial pathogens.
“Unfortunately, food production has been reliant on antimicrobials in the past with notable examples of misuse in the form of antibiotics as growth promoters – a legacy of post-war industrialisation and rapid expansion of food production across Europe in the aftermath of World War Two.
“The transmission of commensal bacteria like Enterococcus species and Escherichia coli through animal products has also been of considerable interest.
“A range of studies examining multidrug-resistant infections in humans have found the bacteria involved not only have different genome sequences to those found in livestock, but are often of different species, suggesting bacterial resistance in humans is quite distinct.
“Studies on plasmid-meditated resistance also show limited evidence of links with animal sources, casting doubt on antibiotic use in livestock farming as the primary driver of AMR.”
The report added: “Despite the uncertainties, there is a risk that wherever antibiotics are used, bacteria develop resistance with the potential for transmission in the environment and between species. It is partly due to this that UK farming has driven down unnecessary use.”
