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Press Conference
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a a
statement from Coalition on Animal Health in response to today's
press conference by "Keep Antibiotics Working" --
It is scientifically irresponsible for a group to use a time of
national crisis to pursue an agenda that actually would undermine
the safety of our food supply. The use of U.S. FDA-approved
antibiotics in animals has been verified in scientific studies
through the past 40 years as providing a critical, first line of
defense to keep our nation's food supply safe and secure.
Antibiotics also provide a first-line of defense should disease
ever be intentionally introduced and spread through U.S. flocks and
herds.
It is misleading and inaccurate to suggest that the use of
animal antibiotics would decrease the effectiveness of human
antibiotics, like Cipro, in the treatment of anthrax. These
irresponsible suggestions indicate this group's complete
misunderstanding of antibiotic resistance and discredits their
ability to find real solutions.
This group offers overly simplistic and dangerous theories to
the multi-faceted issue of antibiotic resistance. Their
recommendations not only put the safety and welfare of our farm
animals at risk, these recommendations also pose the threat of
increasing disease outbreaks on the farm, thereby, increasing the
need for antibiotics. In countries that have restricted the use of
preventative antibiotics, such as Denmark, they have seen a
dramatic rise in diseased farm animals, which has resulted in a 30
percent increase in the use of antibiotics in order to treat these
diseases.
We favor prudent, common-sense use of antibiotics and this is
exactly why we have adopted "prudent use" guidelines and are
calling on the government to increase their surveillance measures.
-- "Prudent Use of Antibiotics in Animals Guidelines." Our
industry has adopted prudent use guidelines, developed by the
American Veterinary Medical Association, in cooperation with the
FDA, CDC, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and others,
to ensure products are used judiciously. And the AVMA has
cooperated with the FDA to develop educational materials for
veterinarians, veterinary students and animal producers.
-- A Call for Increased Surveillance. We need a more rigorous
and robust surveillance program, and we have asked the FDA to do
more to support USDA's efforts to enhance the National
Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS). We need a
robust surveillance program so that we can identify the true level
of potential exposure to resistant foodborne pathogens and
therefore more accurately assess the potential human impact.
These efforts are the types of solutions needed to confront
antibiotic resistance and ensure the safety of our food supply.
Individuals or groups that purport to represent consumers' best
interest should seek real solutions, not soundbites that indulge
fear and jeopardize the safety of our food supply. In times like
these, we must strive for food protection and treat our nation's
food supply like the precious resource it is.
Animal Feed Industry Association
See Attached Fact Sheet
Antibiotics and Safeguarding the Nation's Food Supply
Fact Sheet
Antibiotics are critically important to produce safe food. The
nation's livestock and poultry producers prudently use these U.S.
Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments to raise healthy
animals. By protecting our livestock and poultry, we are able to
prevent the spread of disease on our farms. Preventing the spread
of disease is important in reducing the presence of pathogens in
our food. Farm animals that are protected by antibiotics are
healthier, have less need for therapeutic antibiotics, receive
fewer antibiotics and produce safer food.
-- Antibiotics undergo a stringent U.S. FDA regulatory approval
process and the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture jointly
work to monitor their safe and proper use. These products have
been used safely through the past 40 years.
-- The vast majority of antibiotics - some 85 to 90 percent -
are used to treat and prevent disease, according to a study
conducted with the producers of animal antibiotics.
-- Fluoroquinolones have been approved for use in poultry since
1995. They are used to treat specific, serious animal diseases and
are given only under prescription of a veterinarian. According to
a survey conducted by the National Chicken Council, less than two
percent of chicken flocks are ever treated with a fluoroquinolone.
Normally a single course of the antibiotic, lasting only several
days, is sufficient to treat the outbreak.
-- Published data from the federal government and scientific
journals estimate that use of antibiotics in farm animals accounts
for less than five percent of antibiotic resistance in humans. The
resistance impact of animal antibiotic use can be further reduced
through continued application of and education about prudent use
practices and enhanced surveillance leading to informed management
decisions.
-- There are more than 8 billion food producing animals in the
United States compared to 275 million people, and the human use of
antibiotics is 10 times the amount used with farm animals on a per
weight basis, according to an article in the Journal of the
American Veterinary Medical Association.
-- The World Health Organization estimates 40 percent of the
antibiotics used in human medicine are unnecessary. Collectively,
we all need to work together to ensure the prudent use of
antibiotics. Effective management of resistance requires
cooperation between both the public and private sectors and the
participation of both the human and animal health communities.
-- In a recent study of organic poultry - poultry that is raised
free of antibiotics - researchers found Salmonella was three times
more likely to occur than in conventionally raised chicken,
according to a study published in the Journal of Infectious
Diseases. Similarly, data from Denmark shows organically raised
poultry three times as likely to contain Campylobacter as
conventionally raised poultry.
-- Another study done in Denmark, a country that restricted the
use of preventative antibiotics, showed an increase in disease and
a 30 percent increase in antibiotic use to treat these diseases.
-- The attempt to suggestively link anthrax and foodborne
antibiotic resistance is alarmingly inaccurate and misleading. The
effectiveness of drugs like Cipro against anthrax is in no way
diminished by the use of antibiotics in animals. Neither people
nor animals become resistant to antibiotics; it is bacteria that
can become resistant over time. The use of antibiotics in animals
has no impact at all on the resistance pattern of bacteria used as
agents of bioterrorism.
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