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Implications of Antimicrobial Agents as Therapeutics and Growth Promoters in Food Animal Production, Page 1 of 2
< Previous page Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555816629/9781555815028_Chap01-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555816629/9781555815028_Chap01-2.gifAbstract:
This chapter provides an overview of antimicrobial use in animals and of the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in commensal bacteria and zoonotic agents. It demonstrates the need for alternatives to antimicrobial agents, such as bacteriophages, to preserve the safety of human food and to control the spread of zoonotic agents from animals to humans. The families of antimicrobial agents and many of the actual active substances used in farm animals and human medicine are the same. Among pathogenic Escherichia coli from swine and poultry in North America, resistance frequencies between 20 and 100% for important antimicrobial agents used in therapy and prevention, such as apramycin, neomycin, gentamicin, tetracycline, and trimethoprim-sulfonamide, can be observed. Thus, besides strategies to reduce resistance levels for existing antimicrobial agents, truly new molecules, not just modifications of existing molecules with slightly different activity spectra or pharmacokinetics, would be needed to circumvent this resistance problem. In the meanwhile, there are strong trends in the farming industry to use even more-potent classes of antimicrobial agents, with the potential consequence of contributing to eroding the health system's power to treat human infections. The transfer of resistant zoonotic agents from animals to humans nevertheless remains an overwhelming reality, and both the prudent use of antimicrobial agents and the development of alternatives to antimicrobial agents to reduce the frequency of AMR and to treat infections with resistant organisms should be strongly encouraged. Alternatives to antimicrobial agents are needed to sustain growth promotion and control infectious diseases.