antibiotics
Pig-related infections spread in Denmark, may be in U.S. too
Scientists strengthen a durable antibiotic against bacterial resistance
Doctors have prescribed the antibiotic vancomycin for 60 years against disease and infections in people "and bacteria are only now becoming resistant to it," says Britain's Press Association. "Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in the United States have now modified the drug so it works in three separate ways on bacteria, making it much harder for them to develop resistance."
Maryland joins California in restricting use of antibiotics on livestock
Gov. Larry Hogan stood aside and let a Maryland law take effect without his signature that will bar use of medically important antibiotics to promote weight gain among cattle, hogs and poultry. The Maryland law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2018, the same implementation date as a similar law enacted in 2015 in California, the only other state to control antibiotic use with the goal of preserving the effectiveness of the drugs to fight disease in humans.
Shareholders, activists pressure restaurants on antibiotic use in meat
Activism around the contentious issue of giving antibiotics to meat animals is moving from the farm to the plate by putting pressure on restaurant chains. Last week, a coalition of 30 consumer and environmental groups pressed the cult California burger chain In-N-Out to change its antibiotics-related buying policy. At the same time, a shareholder group pushed McDonald’s to increase its antibiotic-free buying — and while the measure did not pass, 30 percent of shareholders voted for it.
Is the ocean spreading antibiotic resistance?
Scientists with the Surfer Biome Project are investigating whether antibiotic-resistant microbes can be spread though ocean water, says The New York Times. By taking samples from surfers’ mouths, bodies, and boards, the project hopes to learn how easily resistant organisms can pass into the human body.
CARB-X makes first grants to spur development of new antibiotics
An international partnership created to encourage development of new antimicrobials and diagnostics awarded $24 million to scientists pursing 11 projects with an additional $24 million possible over three years, if the researchers make progress. It was the first round of money from the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Accelerator (CARB-X), formed last July with a goal of investing $450 million over five years.
Interview: Perdue finds animal welfare makes a better bird
Animal-welfare measures created last year by giant poultry company Perdue Farms Inc., in a break with traditional poultry raising practices, are starting to show results, Perdue executives said last week. In an interview in Atlanta at the International Production and Processing Expo, the largest annual meeting of the poultry business, Perdue chairman Jim Perdue and Dr. Bruce Stewart-Brown, senior vice president of food safety, quality and live operations, told FERN’s Ag Insider the measures, which focus on “what a chicken wants,” are producing more active, higher quality birds.
Use antibiotics less often, say British cattle veterinarians
Building on a 10 percent reduction in the use of antibiotics to treat farm animals, the British Cattle Veterinary Association is encouraging its members and the cattle industry to further reduce the use of the antimicrobials, says The Cattle Site, a website for industry news. The recommendations are aimed at lower overall use of antibiotics and minimizing critically important antibiotics, such as cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones and colistin.
In worrisome trend, FDA says animal-antibiotic use still rising
The amount of antibiotics sold for use in food animals in the United States rose 1 percent in 2015, and has been rising since the government started counting, according to a report released by the Food and Drug Administration. In a worrisome finding, the FDA said the majority of the livestock drugs sold were “medically important” to human health and were bought over the counter rather than prescribed by a veterinarian.
Bacteria with resistance to important class of antibiotics found on farm in Midwest
Bacteria containing a gene that confers resistance to a crucial class of antibiotics have been found in buildings on a pig farm in the midwestern United States, a troubling and mysterious discovery that should ring a warning bell over farm antibiotic use.
Uncertain outlook for food policy in Trump era, say experts
President-elect Donald Trump attacked over-regulation by the government during his campaign, so "big questions have arisen over how far he'll go," said Civil Eats, which spoke to food-policy activists about the outlook. With Republicans in control of Congress, the budgets of the EPA and the FDA could come under attack, but it would be very difficult to eliminate an agency like EPA, said food-safety advocates.
UN makes historic commitment to fight antibiotic resistance
On September 21, the United Nations General Assembly took an historic step: It acted on the danger posed by antibiotic resistance, which is rising around the world, killing an estimated 700,000 people each year. The U.N. action was only the fourth time that the General Assembly, which usually addresses economic and social issues, had ever considered a health problem. Its all-day “high-level meeting,” in which representatives of 70 governments shared their concerns about controlling resistance, resulted in a commitment by all 193 member nations to begin working on the problem. The first step was to create a “coordination group” to bring all the international efforts in line.
To reduce antibiotic use, feed your sows some seaweed
Researchers at University College in Dublin, Ireland say that feeding seaweed, a popular ingredient in ancient Chinese medicine, to sows can improve the health of their offspring and reduce the use of antimicrobials, says the Aberdeen (Scotland) Press and Journal.
Report: If antibiotics lose efficacy, global impact would equal 2008 financial crisis
As many as 28 million people would be pushed into poverty and global livestock production could fall by up to 7.5 percent if resistant bacteria overwhelm the healing powers of antibiotics, says the World Bank. The economic impact would be "similar to — and likely worse than — that caused by the 2008 financial crisis," but without hope of a recovery, says the Bank.
Cargill stops using important antibiotic in turkeys
Cargill has stopped using an important human antibiotic to prevent disease in turkeys, Reuters reported. It was the latest step by a major meat processing company to drop an antibiotic because of concerns about the the impact on public health. Cargill has not used the drug, gentamicin, to prevent disease in turkeys that supply its two biggest brands, Honeysuckle White and Shady Brook Farms, since Aug. 1, a company statement said. Cargill said it would continue to use antibiotics to treat sick turkeys and to stop the spread of a disease within flocks that include sick birds.
Organic food ‘best choice’ against antibiotic resistance, says report
A report written by a non-profit research center aligned with the organic industry said, “The best choice that consumers can make to combat antibiotic resistance and protect themselves from antibiotic-resistant bacteria is to choose organic.”
McDonald’s to use sugar, not corn syrup, in sandwich buns
Fast-food giant McDonald’s Corp. “will replace high-fructose corn syrup in its sandwich buns with sugar as part of an effort to simplify its ingredients and satisfy increasingly conscientious customers," said the Wall Street Journal.
Partnership will fund search for new antibiotics
A public-private partnership known as CARB-X plans to devote more than $350 million over five years "to one of the trickiest aspects of the problem of drug resistance: Encouraging pharmaceutical companies to make new antibiotics," says National Geographic. Antibiotics are expensive to develop but often a low-revenue product, so there is little research at a time bacterial resistance is an increasing threat to medicine.