Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 1/13/12

British researchers are calling policies to restrict antibiotic use in animals “simplistic,” citing a study in which they found few correlations between antibiotic use in animals and antibiotic resistance in humans.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow used long-term surveillance data of Salmonella typhimurium DT104 from humans and animals in Scotland. They found that just 22 out of the 5,200 isolates studied were resistant in both animals and humans. Of those 22, just five were identified first in the animal isolates, suggesting that animals were an unlikely source of antibiotic resistance in humans.

Published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, the findings show that resistances appeared first in humans the majority of the time.

“We conclude that, while ecologically connected, animals and humans have distinguishable DT104 communities, differing in prevalence, linkage and diversity,” according to the report. “Furthermore, we infer that the sympatric animal population is unlikely to be the major source of resistance diversity for humans. This suggests that current policy emphasis on restricting antimicrobial use in domestic animals may be overly simplistic.”

The report comes at a time when the European Parliament is considering proposals to phase out the precautionary use of some antibiotics in animals to slow human antimicrobial resistance.

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