Antibiotics in farm animal feed fueling increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria: Study
16 Apr 2016
Antibiotics use in farm animal feed is fueling the global increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to researchers.
"In the fight against the rise of antibiotic resistance, we need to understand that the use of one antibiotic or, in some cases, antibacterial disinfectants may increase the abundance of multidrug-resistant bacteria," said study leader James Tiedje, Health Day News reported. Tiedje is a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University.
The research team studied large-scale swine farms in China and a population of pigs in the US and according to the findings multidrug-resistant bacteria were the norm, not the exception, on farms where antibiotics were used continuously in feed to promote growth and prevent disease in animals.
"Tracking the source of antibiotic resistance is quite complicated because antibiotic use, which increases the occurrence of resistance, is widespread, and antibiotic resistance can spread between bacteria," Tiedje added in a university news release.
The Chinese farms in the study were close to large cities, so controlling antibiotic resistance in the pigs was important to minimise the risk to people, he added.
According to experts, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as superbugs, emerged with the exposure of bacteria to antibiotics to which they developed resistance and they became harder to kill.
Over 2 million people in the US got an infection caused by superbugs and 23,000 people died from infection from the bacteria every year, a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.
About half of antibiotics manufactured worldwide were used on livestock to promote faster growth and prevent diseases. With the overuse of antibiotics, new, stronger generations of drug-resistant bacteria in animals emerged, which were later transmitted to humans through food, direct contact with sick animals, and contaminated water and soil.
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