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Animal antibiotics under review
The Federal Government has announced a review of the use and possible abuse of antibiotics used in livestock, mainly pigs and chickens. This follows evidence in Europe that bacteria resistance to the drugs can be passed on to humans.


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Compere: Tony Jones
Reporter: Jacinta Tynan



TONY JONES: Australian farmers pride themselves on their clean-green image.

What you may not know is that much of the meat you eat is clean because the livestock is fed massive doses of antibiotics.

Is this good for you?

Well, the Federal Government isn't sure.

In fact it's announced a review of the use and possible abuse of antibiotics used in livestock, mainly pigs and chickens.

This follows evidence in Europe that bacteria resistance to the drugs can be passed on to humans.

The result can be death or serious illness.

Jacinta Tynan reports.

JACINTA TYNAN: For Australia's 2,500 pig farmers, feeding their stock antibiotics is standard practice.

In fact, many say it's a necessity.

Of the 700,000 kilogrammes of antibiotics used in Australia every year, some two-thirds make their way into animal feed, mainly for chickens and pigs and a smaller amount for cattle feed lots.

The antibiotics act mostly as a growth promoter, warding off infection and disease so the animals feed better and grow faster, which pork producer Paul Higgins says keep him competitive.

PAUL HIGGINS, PORK PRODUCER: We're in a global marketplace and certainly, the use of these products reduce cost of production.

JACINTA TYNAN: But all that could change.

The Federal Government has ordered a review of antibiotics' use in animals.

The decision follows the JETACAR report on antibiotic resistance.

It cites evidence from Europe that the effectiveness of antibiotics in humans could be reduced, as resistance to the drugs is passed through the food chain.

This happens primarily at the abattoir where antibiotic resistant bacteria can find its way from the animal's gut onto the meat we eat.

And being a vegetarian is no safeguard either, as fertilisers and water used to spray fruit and vegetables can also carry the antibiotic resistant bacteria.

If the bacteria is passed onto humans, it has the potential to reduce the effectiveness of life-saving drugs, like Vancomyacin -- the last line of defence against bacteria like golden staph and enterococcus.

PROFESSOR PETER COLLIGNON, INFECTIOUS DISEASES PHYSICIAN: What that means is, for very little economic benefits in the form of weight gain, we're getting potentially huge health consequences to people with antibiotic resistant bacteria, in some cases that may not be treatable.

JACINTA TYNAN: In Europe, antibiotics including Virginiamyacin and the macrolytes family, have already been suspended and Professor Collingnon, who was a member of the JETACAR committee, wants Australia to follow suit.

But he fears waiting for the results of the review will mean extensive and potentially dangerous delays.

PROFESSOR PETER COLLIGNON: Our review processes for a number of these isn't going to be finished until 2003.

That may mean we will still be using those drugs or those antibiotics in animals in this country for five or even 10 years from now.

DR PETER HOLDSWORTH, AVCARE: The antibiotics have been used for over 40 years and that transmission risk has not come to fruition in clinical cases of disease.

JACINTA TYNAN: The agriculture chemical lobby group Avcare is fighting back, claiming the price for not using the drugs is too high, placing livestock at greater risk of infection and drug companies are also likely to fiercely guard their turf.

Pfizer, until recently the supplier of Virginiamyacin, has taken the European Commission to court, arguing the drugs were suspended against scientific evidence.

Jacinta Tynan, Lateline.

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TONY JONES: And joining me now from London is Dr John Threlfall, a scientific advisor to the European committee which banned the use of a number of widely-used antibiotics and legislated against the automatic dosing of flocks and herds.

Now John Threlfall, the committee effectively told the farming industry that there could be calamitous consequences if their sort of activities continued unabated.

What sort of calamity?

What were you worried about?

DR JOHN THRELFALL, PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORY SERVICE: They were worried about one or two aspects.

One is the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from food animals to humans through the food chain and secondly, maybe the acquisition of antibiotic-resistant genes in bacteria causing infections in hospitals such as enterococci, staphylococcusaurus and so on.

So there are two aspects to this.

One is the actual transmission of bacteria through the food chain to humans carrying resistant genes and the other is the transmission of resistant genes themselves.

These are the two main causes of concern.

TONY JONES: Now one of your main jobs is to monitor the outbreaks of these antibiotic-resistant bacteria, these superbugs, if you like.

Have you seen many of these outbreaks?

DR JOHN THRELFALL: Absolutely.

Over the last 10 years in particular we've seen a very big upsurge in antibiotic resistant strains of gut bacteria -- salmonella, 'camparla bacto' which have arisen in animals and cause infections in humans.

There have been numerous outbreaks in the United Kingdom.

Also in other countries in Europe, and all through the United States, and Canada over the last 10 years, of these antibiotic-resistant strains of gut bacteria.

TONY JONES: Can any of these outbreaks be sheeted back home to the misuse or the overuse of antibiotics on farms?

DR JOHN THRELFALL: It isn't actually misuse or overuse, but one is always very cautious about using those terms.

But there's no doubt whatsoever that we have traced and other people have traced outbreaks back to the farm, whereby the strains became resistant on the farm as a result of the use of antibiotics.

There was a paper published a couple of weeks ago in the 'Veterinary Record' which demonstrated how a strain of salmonella acquired resistance to a powerful biotic on the farm.

It was transmitted through humans through the milk of the animals and caused a very big outbreak in humans in the United Kingdom.

Again, this is related to the use of the particular antibiotic on the farm itself.

A similar sort of study has been done in Denmark as well, whereby once more the use of antibiotics was correlated to the actual emergence of a particular strain of salmonella which then caused infection in humans in which two died because they couldn't respond to the particular antibiotic.

TONY JONES: Now you know that the Australian committee investigating the use of antibiotics has been far more cautious than you have in Europe.

They have, for example, allowed the dosing of whole herds and flocks with antibiotics to continue.

Have they made a mistake?

DR JOHN THRELFALL: In my opinion they have.

There's been a lot of very fundamental work done over the last 10 years in particular.

Indeed, some of the most fundamental work has been done in Australia on this subject.

A demonstration of related resistance and I think to maybe have ignored this work is extremely surprising.

TONY JONES: Well, one of the problems you appear to get is that on the committee there are a lot of vets, people associated with the farm industries and very few actual scientists.

Was that a problem also in Europe and do you see that as a general problem?

DR JOHN THRELFALL: I don't think so really in Europe, because I think veterinarians are themselves very cautious about the use of antibiotics.

Maybe there is some pushing by particular pharmaceutical companies that antibiotics are being used in such a way.

But I think the veterinarians themselves do have a duty to treat sick animals.

When animals are sick, they do actually deserve antibiotic treatment.

It is what we call the 'overuse' or the 'injudicious use', or maybe the 'mass prophylactic use' which causes problems in Europe.

And I think to ignore this work is very strange, really.

TONY JONES: Our committee seems to be putting the onus back on the scientists to prove that this is, in fact, a problem.

But you're saying it's already been proved?

DR JOHN THRELFALL: Absolutely.

Several papers have been published.

In fact, the committee set up by the British Government last year, the advisory committee on the safety of food came out very strongly to say that antibiotic-resistant bacteria arises in food animals as a result of antibiotic use in food animals.

This is pretty conclusive evidence to do that.

There have been several very well-documented papers which have shown these strains can then cause infections in humans, some of which cause very serious disease and even death.

TONY JONES: Alright John Threlfall, you probably will have sparked a debate here in Australia.

Thanks for joining us tonight.

DR JOHN THRELFALL: My pleasure.