Prevent antibiotic resistance in animals and people
The Australian livestock industry can attain a potential marketing advantage if we can demonstrate that our food animals are mostly free of resistance to critically important antibiotics.
The recent World Antibiotic Awareness Week was an initiative of the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health as part of their efforts to protect the effectiveness of antimicrobials in the face of rapidly increasing resistance in serious and life-threatening pathogens.
What is antimicrobial resistance?
Antimicrobials are medicines, including antibiotics, which are used to prevent and treat bacterial infections.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) happens when bacteria change to protect themselves from an antibiotic.
Bacteria, not humans or animals, become resistant to the antimicrobial.
The bacteria are then no longer sensitive to that medicine.
As a result, standard antimicrobial treatments become ineffective and infectious diseases are harder to treat.
What causes antimicrobial resistance?
AMR can develop from the use of antimicrobial drugs in humans, animals (pets and food-producing animals) or plants.
It is the overuse or improper use of antimicrobials that makes the development and spread of resistance much more likely.
This is because if an antimicrobial is only present at levels that do not kill or prevent the growth of bacteria, bacteria can continue to multiply and grow.
This can happen when we do not complete a course of drugs or miss doses or take unnecessary antibiotics for viral infections against which they are not effective.
With each multiplication, there is an increased chance that some of the bugs will adapt their genetic make-up, making them resistant.
In the case of bacteria it is true to say that what does not kill them only makes them stronger!
You can prevent antimicrobial resistance by:
- Ensuring that antibiotics given to animals are only used to control or treat infectious disease under veterinary supervision.
- Vaccinating animals to reduce the need for antibiotics.
- Promoting and applying good agriculture practices throughout the supply chain.
- Adopting sustainable systems with improved hygiene, biosecurity and stress-free handling of animals.
For more information on chemical use in livestock visit the Veterinary chemical users webpage or contact Faheem Noor, South Perth on +61 (0)8 9368 3459.