Animal fattening: fewer antibiotics, less resistance
The ban on certain antibiotics in livestock production in Australia appears to have led to a decrease in resistant microbes. This is reported by epidemiologists led by Leanne Unicomb from the Australian National University in Canberra.
In their surveys of 585 patients suffering from diarrheal diseases caused by Campylobacter jejuni, they found resistance to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin in only two percent. In countries in which the drug class of fluoroquinolones – which also includes ciprofloxacin – were permitted in animal breeding, the proportion of Campylobacter strains resistant to this in patient groups was up to almost thirty percent.
Sweden and Norway, where the use of fluoroquinolones in agriculture is also banned, also have very low case numbers. The scientists therefore attribute their positive result to similar Australian policies and preventive measures.
In most industrialized countries, on the other hand, fluoroquinolones are often used in poultry farming, among other things. Due to the positive experiences of Australians, Norwegians and Swedes, the United States also banned these drugs from stables, while in the European Union they are still allowed to give various antibiotics to animals as growth promoters.
