Increased veterinary oversight on use of antimicrobials in livestock is a key part of Health Canada’s plan to combat development of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
What that means has yet to be determined but the Canadian Animal Health Institute does not expect it to overtax veterinary resources.
CAHI president Jean Szkotnicki said Health Canada’s letter of intent calls for development of “a pragmatic approach” to increased veterinary involvement in use of antibiotics in livestock.
“I think we can do that through what we’re calling a veterinary authorization approach,” said Szkotnicki.
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That could involve the use of electronic signatures by veterinarians on prescription drugs for livestock.
Still to be determined are methods of veterinary authorization for medicated ingredients in feeds that are prepared and mixed at feed mills.
Szkotnicki said CAHI is researching electronic tools with which veterinarians could access the various warnings and cautions associated with feed-delivered medications, and send those along with their authorizations directly to feed mills.
“There are pragmatic approaches and I think the industry across the board is really welcoming being able to sit down and work on this,” she said.
Rob McNabb, general manager for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, doesn’t think additional veterinary oversight will present challenges unless final regulations result in the need for veterinarians to actually administer prescription drugs. He said that would not be practical in large livestock operations.
However, that is not considered to be a likely scenario.
As for Health Canada’s concerns about the use of medically important drugs for livestock, McNabb said it is unlikely to affect availability of treatments.
“For us in the cattle industry, medications in feeds, 90 percent of it is ionophores and they’re not on the list of medically important products.”
Health Canada announced April 17 that it plans to propose new measures “to encourage prudent use of antimicrobial drugs used in food-producing animals, particularly drugs that are considered medically important.”
