Jean Szkotnicki speaks with tongue only partially in cheek when she wonders how the medical community would react if those in agriculture made recommendations on health care.
However, recommendations on agricultural use of antibiotics were among many made by the Ontario Medical Association in a March report on antimicrobial resistance and its threat to human health.
Szkotnicki, president of the Canadian Animal Health Institute, said the bulk of the OMA report appropriately dealt with human issues. As for the rest, “I wish they had collaborated relative to comments on the agricultural side.”
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Bacteria resistant to antibiotics pose a threat to human health if there are no drugs effective against them. Agricultural use of antibiotics is thought by some to contribute to development of resistant bacteria.
Szkotnicki said agricultural use of antimicrobials is a factor in the issue of increased resistance, although use in human treatment is the biggest cause.
“That’s not to say that agriculture doesn’t have some contribution and I think there’s a lot of evidence to show that agriculture has taken it very seriously.”
She pointed to quality assurance programs that include appropriate antimicrobial use, prudent use guidelines issued by the veterinary medical association and research efforts aimed at the livestock in-dustries.
The OMA report targeted use of antimicrobials in livestock feed to prevent illness and promote growth as a practice that should be stopped.
However, Szkotnicki said growth promotion claims on some product labels might be the result of outdated information on drugs, particularly ionophores, which have been in livestock use for decades.
“That claim would be different in today’s environment,” she said.
“Our industry is working with Health Canada in developing a process to remove the growth promotion claims from products where there are concerns about use of a product in agriculture and its contribution to resistance.”
Agriculture Canada ruminant microbiologist Tim McAllister has studied the question of growth promotion from antibiotics. His research has investigated two drugs in only a small number of cattle, but it showed no growth promoting effects.
The OMA also recommended that antibiotics be provided only with a veterinary prescription. Szkotnicki said this is already the practice in Quebec and may be something for others to consider.
However, she said that would not necessarily result in more prudent use.
“I would have to say farmers appear to be using these drugs prudently and in a proper way when you look at the whole issue of … managing residues.”
Dr. Ian Goodbrand, a veterinarian who operates Border Veterinary Services in Provost, Alta., said prescriptions keep antimicrobial use at a prudent level in the industry.
The veterinary act dictates that prescription drugs be sold only in a veterinary-client-patient relationship. Goodbrand works primarily with cattle and said there is little use of antimicrobials in cattle feed.
“Antibiotic usage in the feedlot is horribly overestimated by people,” he said.
However, McAllister said medicated feed is more commonly used in poultry operations because it is harder to identify and treat individual birds raised among thousands. Illness can also spread quickly in confined barns and result in high losses, so preventive treatment can be an economical option.
