Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the biggest global threats to human and animal health, can be reversed if countries continue to curb overuse of antibiotics, an expert has said.
AMR is resistance of a microorganism to a drug that was originally effective for treatment of infections caused by that microorganism.
Dr. Nataliya Roth, global portfolio lead microbial modulation with DSM, said that each year millions of human lives are lost “because antibiotics do not work anymore”.
“In general, antibiotic use drives antimicrobial resistance. We can clearly see that the higher the antibiotic use, the higher the resistance and then with low antibiotic use, the resistance goes down as well.
“Some northern European countries that started with antimicrobial reductions and bands already – Sweden in 1986 and other northern European countries in the 1990s – have a really low level of resistance now – that’s decades of work.
“It’s actually in our hands to reduce antimicrobial resistance, it’s possible,” Roth told Agriland.
She explained that AMR is now a health problem facing the global ecosystem.
“Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria are excreting into the environment and then we measure a higher level of resistance in wild animals.
“They never have received antibiotics, but [this is] due to the antimicrobial resistance load in the rivers and the environment.”
Antimicrobial resistance
Roth said that farmers care about their stock and want antibiotics to work when animals are sick.
“Antibiotics are really great substances. They are very helpful and if bacteria would not get resistant to them, we could continue to use them because they’re really supportive,” she said.
“Because of antibiotic resistance, we need to reduce the use where possible.
“We can see that it is possible in many countries. In the last year, there was a reduction by more than 30% of antibiotic use in Europe.
“In some species like poultry, the reduction was huge. In the US, more than 70% of antibiotics were reduced,” Roth said.
“In the countries where we have monitoring, we clearly see the reduction.
“In Europe, antimicrobial consumption by humans was always lower than in animals. Since 2017/18, it changed, so the antimicrobial consumption with humans is rather stable, but [consumption] by animals is below humans now,” she added.
According to Roth, monitoring shows that antimicrobial resistance in poultry in Ireland is decreasing, but is stable in pigs.
“It is a similar situation in many countries. It is easier to reduce antibiotics in poultry than in swine; chicks have a shorter life, they don’t get sick that often – but there are more challenges in pigs.”
The AMR expert said that it is important that if an animal gets sick they deserve to be treated and to get antibiotics.
“Treatment should never be reduced where it is needed, of course,” Roth said.
Farmers
When it comes to antimicrobial resistance and farmers, Roth favours education over enforcement and legislation.
“With education, we identify there is a problem. We break it down to an individual level, we measure the level of resistant bacteria on the farm and then we create awareness,” she said.
“People, if they’re aware that they have a problem, which is their own problem, they’re much more motivated to do something.
“There are also solutions available, right. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. The exchange of expertise between veterinarians and animal producers in some countries was very successful.”
Roth said that disease prevention on farms is “complex” and includes biosecurity and farm management.
She added that some feed additives can also play a role as they can reduce the load of pathogenic bacteria and improve an animal’s gut health.
“If there is an improvement in the gut, there is an improvement in other animal organs,” she said.
Roth said that every farm has their own issues when it comes to AMR and the solution can be different according to the challenges farmers face.
DSM offers farmers services such as the detection of biomarkers which appear before disease occurs.
“With the prevention of disease, the animals do not get sick so performance gets better. Of course, there is an investment, but in the end what we measure is the performance and well-being of animals,” Dr. Roth added.
Antibiotics
Roth believes that the animal industry is on the right trajectory when it comes to tackling AMR.
“We will not reach the pre-antibiotic era, I believe, because there was still an amount of resistant bacteria in nature that will be not possible to eliminate or reduce down. But this is also not really necessary.
“What we want is just to make sure that antibiotics work in the future. That’s the most important part. If animals or humans get sick, they get an antibiotic and they get healthy again.
“The animal industry is heading in the right direction. It seems to be much more difficult than humans, because in some countries the consumption of antibiotics in humans is decreasing but in many, many countries it is not,” Roth said.