ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE January 2023 47 The report provides an integrated analysis of possible relationships between antimicrobial consumption in humans and food-producing animals and the occurrence of AMR in bacteria from humans and food-producing animals. It clearly demonstrates that, for the first time since 2011, overall antimicrobial consumption was lower in food-producing animals than in humans. This change is the result of a significant decrease in antibiotic usage among food-producing animals, suggesting that the country-level measures implemented to reduce antimicrobial use in food-producing animals are effective. In 2021, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) also published a report indicating a reduction in sales of antibiotics to animals in the US. Domestic sales and distribution of medically important antimicrobials approved for use in food-producing animals decreased by 28% from 2016 to 2020 for all producing animals, and by 72% for chickens. Large animal producing regions that do not monitor antibiotic use and resistance have successfully implemented regulatory restrictions for antibiotic use in farm animals. Additionally, the will of animal protein producers to satisfy customer desire for antibiotic-free production strongly contributed to the reduction of antibiotic use. ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE IN FARM ANIMALS DECREASED It is empowering to observe the success in reducing antibiotic use in farm animals. Regions using high levels of antimicrobials are motivated and confident to continue this reduction further. The main contribution to improving healthcare that these efforts provide is a reduction in AMR, ensuring antimicrobial activity remains effective. Does reducing antimicrobial use lead to the reduction of AMR? The resistance of different antimicrobials has been monitored for many years in some countries. Data from the US demonstrates that the reduction of antimicrobial use in chickens leads to a reduction in AMR (Figure 2). Similar trends are observed for other countries. WHAT WAS DRIVING SUCCESS? Alexander Fleming presciently warned about the dangers of misusing antibiotics in his Nobel lecture in 1945: “It is not difficult to make microbes resistant to penicillin in the laboratory by exposing them to concentrations not sufficient to kill them, and the same thing has occasionally happened in the body.” After some years of extensive antibiotic use, surveillance of AMR in bacteria from human isolated bacteria provided very clear evidence of the AMR problem on a global scale. Figure 2. Trends in the proportion of resistance of E. coli isolated from chickens in the US from 1996 to 2021 | Source: NARMS Integrated data, accessed 25.10.22
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