Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 12/7/16


The American Society for Microbiology’s publication Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy has published research that discovered a dangerous antibiotic-resistant pathogen in one swine farrowing barn, but the research did not determine how the resistant pathogen got there.  

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) present an urgent threat to public health. While carbapenem antimicrobials are restricted in food-producing animals, other β-lactams, such as ceftiofur, are used in livestock.

“This use may provide selection pressure favoring the amplification of carbapenem resistance but this relationship has not been established,” the Ohio State University researchers wrote in the research abstract. Plasmid-mediated CREs have been reported from livestock in Europe and Asia, but until now, not in the United States.

Environmental and fecal samples were collected from a 1,500-sow, U.S. farrow-to-finish operation during four visits over a five-month period in 2015. Samples were screened using selective media for the presence of CRE, with resulting carbapenemase-producing isolates further characterized. Of 30 environmental samples collected from a nursery room, two (7 percent) samples yielded three isolates carrying the drug-resistant gene.

As is common in U.S. swine production, piglets on this farm receive ceftiofur at birth, with males receiving a second dose at castration. The researchers speculated that this selection pressure may favor the dissemination of the resistant gene in this farrowing barn, but the absence of this selection pressure in the nursery and finisher barns likely resulted in the loss of the ecological niche needed to maintain the resistant gene.

Pork Board responds
The National Pork Board issued a statement affirming the safety of the U.S. pork supply, noting the resistant gene identified in the study was not found in a market hog, and there was no threat to food safety.

The Ohio State University researchers acknowledged that it is unknown how the Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) bacteria was introduced to the facility and that it could have been introduced by an outside source.

“The conclusions drawn without further validation, replication and research demonstrate this issue requires additional study,” the NPB statement asserted. 

Consistent with FDA and Pork Quality Assurance Plus requirements, the NPB noted ceftiofur should only be used in the treatment and control of disease with veterinarian oversight and direction.

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