In his PhD study, veterinarian Davy Persoons from Belgium showed that antibiotics are used on 75% of the Belgium broiler farms. On average, the broilers receive antibiotic treatment during 1/8 of their life. But antibiotics are also still used too much in human medicine, he stated.Persoons also showed that over 58% of the bacterial isolates were resistant against four or more antibiotics. The alternative for preventive use of antibiotics is biosecurity and hygiene, he said.
Ceftiofur is a worry
In his work, the Belgian researcher showed that E. coli showed the most resistance against antibiotics on Belgium poultry farms. "Over 50% of the E. coli was resistant against five different antibiotics. Only 4.8% was sensitive against all 14 tested antibiotics" he concluded. Persoons noticed a worrying high resistance against ceftiofur and a considerable increase compared to several years back (5% in 2002 to 28% in 2006 to 37% in 2008). Ceftiofur belongs to an important group of antibiotics, both for human as veterinary use.
Use of amoxicillin
The resistance against this group of antibiotics is due to the ESBL-gene (Extended spectrum Beta-lactamase), situated on a mobile piece of DNA in the bacterium. Persoons searched for answers why the ceftiofur resistance is so high in the poultry industry. He found out that a number of management factors have a great role in this. Hygiene, water management, number of feed changes, but also factors such as breed, bedding material, systematic use of amoxicillin influence the resistance built up of bacteria.
E. coli not so dangerous
Further research is needed to know what the risks are when resistant bacteria are being transmitted from animals to humans, due to consumption of poultry meat or handling of live animals. E. coli bacteria are most of the time harmless for humans, but because they can carry resistant genes it is important to prevent contact with them. If the resistant bacteria are being picked up by humans, it makes treatment with Beta-lactam antibiotics very difficult.
Too much use in human medicine
According to Professor Jeroen Dewulf, promoter of the pHD work from Persoons said that the problems with resistance in human medicine still are being found in human medicine itself, where also too much antibiotics are being used. Also Dewulf addressed the need for better biosecurity and hygiene on poultry farms. "If you prevent that the birds come in contact with large amount of pathogens, the need to use loads of broad spectrum antibiotic is – logically – reduced as well. When treatment is needed, this has to done carefully and according to the rules of antibiotic use", concludes DeWulf.
Davy Persoons PhD defended his work on January 20 at the Veterinary Faculty from the Universiteit Gent, Belgium.
Source: VetsWeb
