"Antibiotic-resistant infections have been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as one of the top public health challenges in the United States. Massive use of medically important antibiotics like penicillin and tetracycline in food animal production is a significant contributor to this problem. Antibiotic-resistant pathogens, which are found in and on food animals, can be transferred to humans though several pathways, including handling of farm animals, movement through ground and surface water, and most commonly on contaminated food.
Animal food products can become contaminated during slaughter and processing and food and crops can become contaminated with resistant bacteria in the field or during food processing. Infections caused by foodborne pathogens are more severe and more costly to treat than those caused by susceptible bacteria. The existence of resistant bacteria also means that more cases of infection will occur than would otherwise be the case.
As recently reported in The New York Times, some infections caused by resistant bacteria now cannot be treated. There simply are no longer antibiotics that work. There are 5,815 hospitals in the U.S. registered with the American Hospital Association. The yearly cost associated with antibiotic-resistant patient infections in one U.S. hospital has been estimated at $13.5 million. Additional research and data are critical to understanding how to address the public health and food safety concerns associated with such uses. As you consider fiscal year 2011 appropriations, we would like to propose three appropriations that will help research, monitor, and find solutions to the problem of antibiotic resistance. The requests below are in priority order:
Request #1: $5 million of funds from the FDA’s Transforming Food Safety Initiative to finish, update, and publish reviews on the safety of antimicrobials important in human medicine currently used for nontherapeutic purposes in food-producing animals for their role in the selection and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant foodborne pathogens.
Request #2: $3 million to fund Research and Education Grants for the Study of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria as authorized in Section 7521 of the 2008 Farm Bill.
Request #3: $10 million for the FDA/USDA/CDC National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) in order to expand data collection by $3 million beyond current annual funding of approximately $7 million."
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Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) today introduced the Preventing Antibiotic Resistance Act, a bipartisan bill that would eliminate certain antibiotic-related practices that contribute to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria and endanger human health. The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jack Reed (D-RI), Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
More infoThis bibliography lists the latest published scientific and economic literature concerning the contribution of routine antibiotic use in food animals to the growing public health crisis of human antibiotic resistance. Research on how antibiotic use in food animal production contributes to the growing health crisis of antibiotic resistance dates back more than 30 years.
More infoPew Charitable Trusts today applauded Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Susan Collins (R-ME), for introducing the Antimicrobial Data Collection Act, which would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, to report more information on the annual sales of antibiotics used among industrial farm animals. The bipartisan bill would also give the agency a deadline to finalize policies proposed last year to eliminate the use of antibiotics for growth promotion purposes in meat production.
More info"As a nation, we need to exercise greater care with our use of antibiotics, in both humans and animals, so that these medications remain effective in treating serious bacterial infections."
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