News Update

News Update
Oct. 3, 2006

U.S. FDA Advisory Committee Finds Using Human Antibiotic in Cattle Could Create Antibiotic Resistance and Threaten Human Health

A key advisory committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week rejected the claim of the manufacturer Intervet that its new cattle antibiotic cefquinome could be considered safe for human health. Cefquinome, proposed for use against respiratory disease in cattle, is a fourth-generation cephalosporin, a class that includes the important human drug cefepime. Growing scientific evidence shows that use of similar antibiotics in both human medicine and food animal production can erode the effectiveness of drugs vital for use in human medicine

The surprise decision by the FDA’s Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee (VMAC) came at the end of a Sept. 27 hearing, during which the American Medical Association, Infectious Disease Society of America, Keep Antibiotics Working coalition, and Union of Concerned Scientists, testified that use of cefepime in cattle could increase cephalosporin-resistant E. coli and Salmonella bacteria, two major causes of food poisoning (see AMA, IDSA, KAW and UCS testimony at www.keepantibioticsworking.com).

“VMAC’s decision represents an important victory for public health,” said Richard Wood, Keep Antibiotics Working Steering Committee Chair and Executive Director of Food Animal Concerns Trust. “The fourth-generation cephalosporins are a vital part of the human drug arsenal. We should not put them at risk by widespread use in cattle.”

The recommendations of the VMAC are not binding, but it is rare for committee advice to be ignored. If the FDA accepts the committee’s finding that the safety of cefquinome has not been shown, then the drug will not be approved.

In Europe, where cefquinome has already been approved and used under the brand name Cobactin, resistance to this and other cephalosporins has emerged among E. coli and salmonella bacteria isolated from livestock. In the U.S., where fourth-generation cephalosporins have not been approved for use in animal agriculture, resistance to these drugs is uncommon.

“Several of the committee members raised concerns about the possible widespread use of the drug not only in cattle but in other species,” Wood said. “Without basic safeguards in place — controls on extra-label use, monitoring of quantities of drugs used, and adequate support for monitoring the development of resistance — you can’t even consider using critically important human drugs in food animals. It will never be safe.”

— release provided by M&R Strategic Services

CSU Animal Ethics Expert Named to Commission to Research Industrial Farm Aniaml Production

Colorado State University (CSU) Distinguished Professor Bernard Rollin has been named to the Independent National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. Rollin, an international leader in bioethics and animal ethics, will assist the commission in conducting comprehensive, fact-based and balanced assessments of industrial farming.

The commission, funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will assess the effect of industrial farming on public health, the environment, farm communities, animal welfare and animal health. The group, which will work with other national experts, is comprised of veterinary, animal sciences, economics, agriculture, public health, business, government and animal welfare experts.

“The charge of this commission is an extremely important one,” Rollin said. “A common interest in the implications of industrial agriculture for society, the environment and animal welfare brings together ranchers, agriculturalists, academics, veterinarians, public health experts and others within this group — and for the first time in history, we will collectively take a hard, factual look at the costs and benefits of industrialized agriculture.”

Rollin, who taught the world’s first university courses in veterinary and animal ethics at CSU, is a professor of philosophy, veterinary medicine and animal sciences. He is a principal author of the 1985 Animal Welfare Act and an international voice in animal-use ethics.

Through hearings conducted across the country over the next two years, the commission will provide specialized reports that will inform the public, policymakers and industry stakeholders about the benefits and costs of industrial farm animal production.

The number of family farms in the U.S. dropped by almost 50% in the last 40 years, while the number of animals produced in the country continues to grow.

In the U.S., animal agriculture produces billions of animals per year. The national trend toward industrial animal production provides consumers with affordable food. Many consumers assume that the meat and dairy products they buy come from traditional, extensive family farms. However, the commission asserts that most livestock and poultry products available in the U.S. are produced in large, concentrated animal feeding operations.

This trend may negatively affect rural communities, the environment, animal welfare and human health, Rollin said. Concerns such as animal health, air and water contamination, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and significant shifts in social structure and the economy of farming regions are within the focus of the commission’s research.

The 20-member commission, which is chaired by former Kansas Gov. John Carlin, includes South Dakota Sen. Tom Dempster; Brother David Andrews, executive director of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference; Dan Glickman, former U.S. secretary of agriculture; actress Daryl Hannah; Thomas Hayes, president of Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.; and Dan Jackson, a rancher and former president of the Western Montana Stockgrowers Association and a former committee member of the Farm Service Agency.

— adapted from release provided by Colorado State University