Antimicrobial Drug Use in Veterinary Medicine

Abstract

Recognizing the importance of antimicrobial resistance and the need for veterinarians to aid in efforts for maintaining the usefulness of antimicrobial drugs in animals and humans, the Board of Regents of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine charged a special committee with responsibility for drafting this position statement regarding antimicrobial drug use in veterinary medicine. The Committee believes that veterinarians are obligated to balance the well-being of animals under their care with the protection of other animals and public health. Therefore, if an animal's medical condition can be reasonably expected to improve as a result of treatment with antimicrobial drugs, and the animal is under a veterinarian's care with an appropriate veterinarian-client-patient relationship, veterinarians have an obligation to offer antimicrobial treatment as a therapeutic option. Veterinarians also have an obligation to actively promote disease prevention efforts, to treat as conservatively as possible, and to explain the potential consequences associated with antimicrobial treatment to animal owners and managers, including the possibility of promoting selection of resistant bacteria. However, the consequences of losing usefulness of an antimicrobial drug that is used as a last resort in humans or animals with resistant bacterial infections might be unacceptable from a public or population health perspective. Veterinarians could therefore face the difficult choice of treating animals with a drug that is less likely to be successful, possibly resulting in prolonged or exacerbated morbidity, to protect the good of society. The Committee recommends that voluntary actions be taken by the veterinary profession to promote conservative use of antimicrobial drugs to minimize the potential adverse effects on animal or human health. The veterinary profession must work to educate all veterinarians about issues related to conservative antimicrobial drug use and antimicrobial resistance so that each individual is better able to balance ethical obligations regarding the perceived benefit to their patients versus the perceived risk to public health. Specific means by which the veterinary profession can promote stewardship of this valuable resource are presented and discussed in this document.

A retrospective study of bacterial pathogens in an equine hospital (1988–2014)

“…Antimicrobial therapy has an impact on bacterial prevalence, as it allows bacteria to grow which are intrinsically resistant or able to develop resistance to the used antimicrobial drug (Morley et al, 2005;Dunowska et al, 2006). Some antimicrobial classes have a greater potential to promote selection of resistant isolates than others, as shown for cephalosporins in equine fecal E. coli (Dunowska et al, 2006).…”

“…The identification of pathogenic bacteria in disease processes is important for understanding pathogenesis and optimizing therapy (Sellon and Long, 2013). While clinical findings often allow a presumptive diagnosis of bacterial infection, confirmation and characterization of the causative agent is achieved through bacteriological culture and susceptibility testing (Morley et al, 2005). However, culture results are often not available for up to 48 hours, and an empiric choice of antimicrobial treatment has to be made (Wilson, 2001).…”

“…There are studies available describing bacterial isolates from equine infections, however, only few of them are recent (Hirsh and Jang, 1987;Lavoie et al, 1991;Sweeney et al, 1991;Hawkins et al, 1993;Racklyeft and Love, 2000;Clark et al, 2008;Panchaud et al, 2010;Theelen et al, 2014). Additionally, bac terial prevalence can differ geographically; therefore, surveillance of bacterial isolates is recommended on a local level (Morley et al, 2005;Traub-Dargatz and Dargatz, 2009). There is currently little data available of common bacterial pathogens in horses in Switzerland.…”

“…The acquisition of resistance against antimicrobials permits survival of particular bacterial strains, and thus changes in susceptibility profiles are able to shift the prevalence of pathogens. Therefore, surveillance of changes in prevalence is recommended (Morley et al, 2005;Traub-Dargatz and Dargatz, 2009). The objective of this study was to retrospectively describe occurrence and longitudinal development of bacterial pathogens isolated from equine infections at the University of Zurich between 1988 and 2014.…”

Preparation and evaluation of tilmicosin-loaded hydrogenated castor oil nanoparticle suspensions of different particle sizes

“…Although liquid dispersions of SLN can also be converted into dry powders for stable storage by spray-drying or lyophilization, 10,11 suspensions are still preferred due to great ease of preparation and low cost. 12,13 Production cost is an important driver for developing veterinary clinical applications, 14 and SLN suspensions can be produced on a large scale and can be used directly. 15,16 Particle size has become an important developmental consideration in the field of nanobiology, particularly during the development of new drug delivery systems.…”