Antibiotics in Canadian poultry productions and anticipated alternatives

Abstract

The use of antibiotics in food-producing animals has significantly increased animal health by lowering mortality and the incidence of diseases. Antibiotics also have largely contributed to increase productivity of farms. However, antibiotic usage in general and relevance of non-therapeutic antibiotics (growth promoters) in feed need to be reevaluated especially because bacterial pathogens of humans and animals have developed and shared a variety of antibiotic resistance mechanisms that can easily be spread within microbial communities. In Canada, poultry production involves more than 2600 regulated chicken producers who have access to several antibiotics approved as feed additives for poultry. Feed recipes and mixtures vary greatly geographically and from one farm to another, making links between use of a specific antibiotic feed additive and production yields or selection of specific antibiotic-resistant bacteria difficult to establish. Many on-farm studies have revealed the widespread presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in broiler chickens. While some reports linked the presence of antibiotic-resistant organisms to the use of feed supplemented with antibiotics, no recent studies could clearly demonstrate the benefit of antimicrobial growth promoters on performance and production yields. With modern biosecurity and hygienic practices, there is a genuine concern that intensive utilization of antibiotics or use of antimicrobial growth promoters in feed might no longer be useful. Public pressure and concerns about food and environmental safety (antibiotic residues, antibiotic-resistant pathogens) have driven researchers to actively look for alternatives to antibiotics. Some of the alternatives include pre- and probiotics, organic acids and essential oils. We will describe here the properties of some bioactive molecules, like those found in cranberry, which have shown interesting polyvalent antibacterial and immuno-stimulatory activities.

Isolation, serotype diversity and antibiogram of Salmonella enterica isolated from different species of poultry in India

“…Non-judicious usage of antibiotics for therapeutic purpose or as growth promoters in poultry industry has led to selective pressure on various bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella serovars; Enterococcus spp., Clostridium perfringens) resulting in emergence of multidrug resistant strains which is a matter of serious concern for public health [33,34]. Infections due to such strains are very difficult to treat.…”

Global trends in antimicrobial use in food animals

“…Given the potential costs of inaction, this study, among others, calls for urgent and concerted action in all countries, which is needed to limit the overuse and abuse of antimicrobials in food animal production (2,18,47). These actions should include (i) implementation of a publicly funded international surveillance network of antimicrobial consumption in food animals in countries undergoing rapid intensification in the livestock sector, (ii) collaboration with veterinary drug manufacturers and animal feed producers to cross-validate estimates of consumption with sales data, (iii) implementation of an international agenda to harmonize regulatory frameworks among countries, and (iv) the ultimate phasing out of antimicrobial use for growth promotion, based on the successful experience in the European Union and the new biological (48,49) and economic (50,51) evidence challenging the purported benefits of antimicrobial use in food animal production.…”

Colistin in Pig Production: Chemistry, Mechanism of Antibacterial Action, Microbial Resistance Emergence, and One Health Perspectives

“…In addition to the fact that antimicrobials for growth promotion can generally be purchased without veterinary involvement, low subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics used to improve animal growth has been shown to promote antibiotic resistance emergence (Aminov and Mackie, 2007; Andersson and Hughes, 2010; Nosanchuk et al, 2014). No recent studies have been able to clearly establish a link between the use of antibiotics as growth promoters and the improvement of animal performance in modern farming conditions with a high level of sanitation (Diarra and Malouin, 2014). …”