Cooperation key for antibiotic stewardship

Consumers today have a lot of questions about antibiotic resistance and how it might be linked to livestock farming. But according to Michelle Sprague, a veterinarian with Audubon Manning Veterinary Clinic Management Services, there has been no evidence of a direct link between antibiotic use in livestock and resistance seen in human medicine.

"It's not a link that's quite as easily drawn as people make it out to be," Sprague said. "Eating meat from an animal that's been treated with an antibiotic does not infer antibiotic resistance in humans because the antibiotic is out of the animal's system before it's slaughtered, by law, with observance of withdrawal times."

However, experts agree that those in the human medical community and the livestock industry need to work together to reduce antibiotic resistance by the overall reduction in antibiotic use.

When farmers work with veterinarians to determine the course of treatment, they determine the best treatment, route and duration of use. This information follows the animal health manufacturer's label instructions regarding use and the veterinarian's experience in the field.

Farmers and veterinarians not only follow the animal health manufacturer's label, they must also follow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's limits on residues. FDA sets limits on how much residue can remain in the meat, which ensures not only veterinary oversight, but also food safety.

"Meat is basically antibiotic-free," said Richard Raymond, former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) undersecretary for food safety.

There is a strict withdrawal period set by FDA that determines how long before the animal goes to slaughter that the course of antibiotic should be finished. Before slaughter, the animal processes the antibiotic, which flushes the illness and the antibiotic out of its system before it's even close to being slaughtered.

Chris Rademacher, swine veterinarian at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, noted that farmers often adhere to a longer withdrawal period than what's required by FDA. That's because export partners like Japan require a longer period to be eligible for exports.

"Because different countries have different tolerances, for export markets we usually go above and beyond with what the withdrawal period states on the label," Rademacher said.

For example, anybody who sells exported pork may have a 28- to 30-day withdrawal period when FDA only requires seven to 10 days in the U.S.

"Some farmers don't use the antibiotic in the last 30 to 60 days before market as a safeguard unless pigs really get sick," Rademacher said.

After food animals are slaughtered, USDA inspectors at packing plants test meat for drug residues before the meat enters the food chain. If meat is found to have an amount of drug residue that's above the legal limit, the meat is destroyed, and consumers never see the product in the grocery store.