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Source of antibiotic resistance found in farm soil, researchers say
Story Date: 12/5/2012
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Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 12/4/12
A study from Washington State University has found that urine from animals treated with the antibiotic cephalosporin contributes to antibiotic resistance in humans — just seven months after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new rules to limit many extra-label uses of the drug in cattle, swine, chickens and turkeys over concerns that it may cause failure of antibiotic treatment of life-threatening infections in humans.
Cephalosporins are widely used antimicrobial agents in human and veterinary medicine. They were introduced into human clinical use in 1964.
Since the industry has acknowledged that the drug’s resistance likely doesn’t develop in the animal’s gut, the researchers focused on the soil. “Even short-term persistence in soil provides [an] advantage to resistant E. coli populations, resulting in significantly prolonged persistence of these bacteria in the soil,” the researchers say in this month’s issue of the journal PLOS ONE.
They found that — especially in warm weather — a variety of bacteria may develop resistance within 24 hours, including E. coli and salmonella. Newer cephalosporins on the market are used to treat salmonella and shigella, especially in children.
In animal agriculture, cephalosporins are used to treat bacterial pneumonia in pigs and cattle and to control early mortality in chicks and turkey poults. The FDA had singled out the use of ceftiofur in dairy cattle as a concern, saying dairy farmers often fail to keep required records.
In the Washington State study, the researchers suggest that on-farm interventions —such as bioremediation, the addition of adsorption agents or improved waste management — may help stem the rise of antibiotic resistance.
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