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"Nearly 25 years ago, we were both involved in a proposal to terminate the use of
certain antibiotics then being added to animal feeds in the United States to promote the
growth of livestock (the United Kingdom had wisely restricted the most prevalent uses
years earlier). One of us (Don Kennedy) was commissioner of the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA); the other (Stanley Falkow) was a member of an expert
panel commissioned by the FDA to assess the associated risks. At that time, evidence
linking antibiotic resistance in bacteria inhabiting livestock to resistance in human
pathogens was indirect, though it was plain to us and to most microbiologists that using
the same antibiotics in people and animals was a bad idea. The FDA proposed
eliminating the subtherapeutic growth-promotant uses of penicillin and two other
antibiotics, but livestock production interests persuaded Congress to put the regulation
on the shelf."
"Among the costs of using antibiotics is the gradual loss of their effectiveness as bacteria
evolve resistance to them. S. Falkow and D. Kennedy suggest in their Editorial
"Antibiotics, animals, and people--again!" that the best policy to minimize these costs
for a class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolines is to ban their use in farm animals
(Science's Compass, 19 Jan., p. 397). But evidence does not support their analysis.
The suggested policy would deny the public benefits of antibiotic use in animals without
materially extending effective use of these drugs in humans."
RESPONSE FROM FALKOW AND KENNEDY
"We pointed out in our editorial that 25 years ago the issue of antibiotics in animal feeds had become an argument in which
scientific evidence defaults to risk assessment. The response by Daniel Byrd and co-authors suggests that times haven't
changed. They argue that the benefits of continued use of fluoroquinolines in animals outweigh the costs to human and
animal health. To support that case, they assert that the use of fluoroquinolines in animals is "minor," while ignoring its
human uses."
"We pointed out in our editorial that 25 years ago the issue of antibiotics in animal feeds had become an argument in which
scientific evidence defaults to risk assessment. The response by Daniel Byrd and co-authors suggests that times haven't
changed. They argue that the benefits of continued use of fluoroquinolines in animals outweigh the costs to human and
animal health. To support that case, they assert that the use of fluoroquinolines in animals is "minor," while ignoring its
human uses."
"Falkow and Kennedy's Editorial outlines the current problems with selection for
clinically relevant antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens of animals, and
presents a challenge for the development of novel antimicrobials specific for animal
pathogens. The situation with antibiotics and plant bacterial disease management is
similar. Resistance to streptomycin and tetracycline, antibiotics used mostly on fruit
crops such as apple and peach in the United States, is widespread among
plant-pathogenic and plant-associated bacteria in some nursery and orchard
environments (1). The common resistance determinants encoded by these bacteria are
very similar to those found in clinical pathogens (2), indicating that plants can also serve
as a reservoir for antibiotic resistance in the environment."
The Isolation of Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella From Retail
Ground Meats, by White DG, Zhao S, Sudler R, et al,
The New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 345,
Number 16), October 18, 2001
"Despite emphasizing prevention through appropriate food
handling and food preparation, public health authorities have
continued to see rising rates of Salmonella and other food-borne
infection.[1] Even more alarming has been the arrival of Salmonella
enterica serotype typhimurium DT104, a highly resistant strain
defying some traditional antibiotic regimens.[2,3] Although
processed foods would clearly appear to be the source, the extent
and potential cause of the problem is ill defined. The current
investigators from the Food and Drug Administration and the University
of Maryland provide data indicating that resistant Salmonella are
indeed in the food chain, and also provide indirect evidence
attributing it to use of antibiotics in animals."
Drug Resistant Bacteria Found in US Meat, Reuters
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