JAC Advance Access published online on December 4, 2003
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, doi:10.1093/jac/dkg483
© 2003 by The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
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Review
1 University of London,
London, UK;
* Corresponding author. E-mail: cnighti{at}harthosp.org.
The use of antibiotics in food animals selects for
bacteria resistant to antibiotics used in humans, and these might
spread via the food to humans and cause human infection, hence the
banning of growth-promoters. The actual danger seems small, and
there might be disadvantages to human and to animal health. The
low dosages used for growth promotion are an unquantified hazard.
Although some antibiotics are used both in animals and humans, most
of the resistance problem in humans has arisen from human use. Resistance
can be selected in food animals, and resistant bacteria can
contaminate animal-derived food, but adequate cooking destroys them.
How often they colonize the human gut, and transfer resistance genes
is not known. In zoonotic salmonellosis, resistance may arise in
animals or humans, but human cross-infection is common. The case
of campylobacter infection is less clear. The normal human faecal
flora can contain resistant enterococci, but indistinguishable strains
in animals and man are uncommon, possibly because most animal enterococci
do not establish themselves in the human intestine. There is no
correlation between the carriage of resistant enterococci of possible
animal origin and human infection with resistant strains. Commensal Escherichia coli also exhibits host-animal preferences.
Anti-Gram-positive growth promoters would be expected to have little
effect on most Gram-negative organisms. Even if resistant pathogens
do reach man, the clinical consequences of resistance may be small.
The application of the ‘precautionary principle’ is
a non-scientific approach that assumes that risk assessments will
be carried out.
Keywords: antibiotic resistance and food animals, animal
antibiotic use and human health risk
Does the use of antibiotics in food animals pose
a risk to human health? A critical review of published data
2 Cox Associates,
Denver, CO;
3 Kansas State
University, Manhattan,
KS, and Livestock Information Services, Callaway, NE;
4 Royal Veterinary
and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark
5 JMI Laboratories, North Liberty,
IA;
6 Hartford Hospital, University
of Connecticut, 80 Seymour St., Hartford, CT 06102-5037;
7 Texas Tech University, Lubbock,
TX;
8 Sutton Veterinary Clinic, Sutton,
NE, USA
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