How antibiotic resistance spreads – Infographic Source Biomerieuxconnection Janet Ogundepo Consuming animals and animal products treated and bred with inappropriate dosages of antibiotics could lead to increased deaths from antimicrobial resistance, researchers have warned. Speaking in separate interviews with PUNCH Healthwise, the AMR researchers reported a growing difficulty in treating infections with antimicrobials previously cured of such ailments. The experts, who are seasoned clinical and veterinary microbiologists, warned that if the situation is not promptly addressed, there would be an increase in AMR-related deaths in the country and globally.
According to the World Health Organisation, AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of severe illness and death. Antimicrobials, the WHO states, include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitic medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans and animals. A recent study carried out by the Institute of Tropical Medicine stated that even tiny traces of antibiotics in meat and fish consumed could contribute to antibiotic resistance.
The research also revealed that a tiny fraction of ciprofloxacin, a common antibiotic used for pigs and cows, could promote bacterial resistance in humans. The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance reports that in 2019, 4.95 million people suffered and died from drug-resistant infections globally.
Of that figure, AMR caused the direct deaths of 1.27 million of the figure It also reported that Nigeria had about 64,500 AMR-related deaths and 263,400 AMR-associated deaths. Speaking with PUNCH Healthwise, a Professor of Medical Microbiology in the College of Health Sciences, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Samuel Taiwo, noted that if nothing was done to address AMR, it could further lead to untreatable infections by antibiotics.
Prof Taiwo He further said this could lead to multi-drug resistance, forecasting a return to the pre-antibiotic era. “The problem with AMR is that these infections are no longer treated or treatable by the current antimicrobials that we have and that means you have multidrug-resistant infections that you can’t do anything about. “So that’s looking more like the era before the antibiotic was invented in the 1930s, and you know how dangerous and terrible those eras were.
So, we fear that we are returning to a pre-antibiotic area where there will be no drug to treat multidrug-resistant infections,” the don stated. Taiwo further noted that the lack of drugs to treat multidrug-resistant infections would lead to massive mortality and morbidity rates, as well as loss of economic productivity and Gross Domestic Product. The Consultant clinical microbiologist at LAUTECH, called for awareness of the dangers of the misuse and abuse of antimicrobials, whether through underuse or overuse, in both the human and animal husbandry sectors.
The researcher on Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Prevention and Control decried the unauthorised use of antimicrobials as growth promoters in animal husbandry. The don also emphasised the need for government regulation of the antimicrobial supply chain to ensure medical authorisation was obtained before it could be dispensed or used. He further called for the prevention and control of infections, water sanitation, and hygiene and biosecurity in farm animals to prevent the need for antimicrobials.
Also, a professor of Clinical Microbiology in the Faculty of Medicine, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Comfort Akujobi, stated that inappropriate use of antibiotics in both humans and animal husbandry fuelled the emergence of resistance to antimicrobials. She added, “Antimicrobial use in food-producing animals and aquaculture very often involves the large-scale use for growth promotion and mass prophylaxis. Some people who have poultry put tetracycline in the water but it is very wrong.
The resistance pathogens you find in these food or animal products can cause infections in humans too. “As the animals keep being given small doses of antimicrobials, you will find out that they will have organisms that will become resistant to those drugs and when humans eat the food product, they acquire these bacteria, become infected and it becomes difficult to treat.” The researcher on antimicrobial resistance decried the lack of regulation of antibiotics use in animals, stating that it fuelled the rise in AMR, which has led to the ineffectiveness of some drugs used to treat infections.
She called for awareness and education on the rational use of antimicrobials in human healthcare and animal husbandry. Akujobi also urged the government to provide grants to fund the research and development of new antimicrobials, highlighting the need for newer drugs. Also, a professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Food Safety in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Olufemi Ojo, said antibiotic residues in meat and fish are caused by the failure of many poultry and food animal farmers to observe the required withdrawal period.
He added that the neglect of this withdrawal period contributed to the rise in AMR in humans who are the end consumers of such products. The don explained, “When you administer antimicrobial agents to animals, fish or any livestock, the withdrawal period is written on the label of that agent. The withdrawal period is the period by which you cannot slaughter the animal or take the product from the animal.
For instance, you cannot drink the milk from such dairy cow or eat an egg from a chicken. “This withdrawal period must be observed because if it is not observed, there will be traces of the antibiotic agent in the product, whether meat, fish, egg, or milk, the traces will be there. So, you start counting the withdrawal period from the last day that you administer the antimicrobial agent.
” Ojo condemned the unethical practices of some farmers, who sell meat and products from animals still undergoing treatment, as well as the sale and slaughter of sick or dying animals for human consumption. He warned that if the trend is not stopped, there would be a further rise in the incidence of AMR bacterial agents, which he said, is already above 50 per cent in a particular bacterium. The researcher on antimicrobial resistance and bacterial virulence explained that the increase in the spread and emergence of AMR would further lead to the ineffectiveness of antimicrobial drugs, longer hospital stays and possible spread of infections.
The food safety expert further noted that studies have revealed that Nigeria’s porous borders and the importation of animal products introduce new strains of AMR bacteria different from the usually known ones. The don also asserted that sick animals should be given a proper diagnosis by a veterinarian before administering antimicrobial agents. He advocated reducing the use of antimicrobial agents in animals by improving farm hygiene, biosecurity, good animal management and vaccination.
Ojo called for increased public awareness and education of farmers about the dangers of AMR and the need to reduce animal-to-human transmission. Copyright PUNCH All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected] Tags #antibiotic resistance #LAUTECH AMR-related deaths Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Prevention and Control drug resistance Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance Veterinary microbiologists WHO.
