A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 10, 1999
(Continued from Page A 1)
by some in universities and human
health advocate agencies, by the
use of antibiotics in poultry, which
already takes careful, scientifically
approved measures to regulate
these procedures?
Dr. Sherrill Davison, assistant
professor in avian medicine and
pathology at the University of Pen
nsylvania’s New Bolton Center,
spoke about these issues during the
first of a two-day Penn State
sponsored Pennsylvania Poultry
Sales and Service Conference.
Davison spoke Tuesday after
noon to more than 100 poultry pro
ducers and agri-industry represen
tatives at the Holiday Inn in
Grantville.
Simply put, what human health
physicians and poultry veterina
rians prescribe are antibiotics or
antimicrobials.
Antibiotics are produced by
bacteria to kill disease-causing
organisms. Antimicrobials are
defined as antiobiotics or synthetic
compounds that serve the same
purpose.
Davison spoke Tuesday afternoon to more
than 100 poultry producers and agri-industry
representatives at the Holiday Inn in Grantville.
Simply put, what human health physicians and
poultry veterinarians prescribe are antibiotics or
antimicrobials.
Antibiotics are produced by bacteria to kill
disease-causing organisms. Antimicrobials are
defined as antiobiotics or synthetic compounds
that serve the same purpose.
Davison spoke about not only the controversy
surrounding the issue of bacteria resistance but
the fact that of what the poultry veterinarian can
use, there is very little, she said.
The controversy, Davison noted, is: does anti
microbial use in food potentially affect human
health? Do the resistant bacteria that can develop
get into the human food chain?
According to the poultry veterinarian, advo
cates of the USDA/FDA-approved use of antimi
crobials note there is “no scientific evidence”
that the resistant bacteria show up in humans as a
result of using antibiotics or antimicrobials in
poultry.
However, she noted opponents of the use of
antimicrobials in poultry can provide “lots of sci
entific evidence.”
Part of the problem may be too many physi
cians, under pressure from their patients, don’t
judiciously prescribe antibiotics. Because the
patients insist, doctors are forced to use antibio
tics wrongly to treat viral infections. This “over
prescription” of antibiotics in humans could
point to why bacteria are becoming more
resistant.
Physicians need to educate people about the
proper use of antibiotics, to treat bacterial, not
viral, infections. Human health professionals
must become more aware of this. Poultry health
experts need to do a better job of convincing peo
ple of the need for antimicrobials and antibiotics
in animals.
“What we need to do is preserve the antimicro
bials we have,” Davison said, before the pressure
becomes too great from those who are unedu
cated about the benefits and wrongly convinced
of their dangers. And she said we need to find
ways to prevent the overuse of antibiotics in peo
ple. Also, antimicrobials in cats and dogs con
tinues to be widely used, but little is known about
how human health can be effected.
Antimicrobials have two uses in poultry and
livestock in general:
• Subtherapeutic measures or as growth prom
otants. These are used in low levels to prevent
disease while promoting an animal’s growth.
• Therapeutic uses to treat current flock dis
ease include the use of the antimicrobials at the
appropriate dosage and in the correct time
period
Veterinarians need to make “judicious and
prudent use of antimicrobials at the therapeutic
level,” said Davison.
To prevent disease and to allay the public’s
fears of the use of antimicrobials in poultry, the
American Veterinarian Medicine Association
and European Union have come up with the fol-
• Disease prevention through a
properly managed poultry hygiene
and vaccination program.
• The development of a working
veterinary/client relationship. Pro
ducers should consult with a flock
health provider.
• “Know what we are treating
for,” said Davison. Often some
veterinarians see an increase in
mortality and are too quick to start
antimicrobial use.
• If using antimicrobial, select a
“narrow-spectrum” compound,
not simply a “shotgun” type prepa
ration that treats bacteria not
present
• Treat for the appropriate time
period. Note withdrawal times.
Consult with the producer to estab
lish effectiveness of the recom
mended treatment
Davison advocates the use of
preventative measures such as
overall poultry health to stop dis
ease, rather than relying solely on
therapeutic methods.
For poultry producers, it is
important to follow quality assur-
Caution
mice programs, such as the Pen
nsylvania Egg Quality Assurance
Program, and Hazard Analysis
Cridcal Control Point (HACCP)
programs already in processing
plants to stem disease.
The industry as a whole does
“follow good, preventative
methods to decrease problems,”
Davison told those who attended
the conference. But methods of
preventing disease with other
methods other than antimicrobials
are necessary to secure their use at
a future time. It has been suggested
by some that, in the future, birds
should be subject to the use of anti
biotics on a tightly controlled,
prescription-only basis.
Concern about resistance should
be “everybody’s responsibility,”
said Davison. “I think the poultry
industry does a good job in preven
tative measures.” And the industry
as a whole must do a better job in
educating the general public. Con
sumers need to prepare food prop
erly, use antibiotics if prescribed
for the right reasons, and “preserve
Must Follow Antibi
the usefulness of antimicrobials
few the future," she said.
On Tuesday, a wide range of
additional industry topics were
also addressed.
Operations Research
More than ever, poultry produc
ers are looking at ways to use a sci
entific approach to their manage
ment decisions.
Universities have a name for
that discipline. It’s called “opera
tions research,” in which the tenets
of science and technology meet as
a tool for producers to sharpen
their feed formulations, hone ami
no acid prediction and disease
diagnosis, and find ways to
improve animal and facility
efficiency.
In fact, according to Bill Roush,
Penn State associate professor of
poultry science, the tools of opera
tions research have become so
exciting to the industry that Penn
State itself recently introduced a
new animal science program
which offers masters and docto
rates in operations research.
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Speakers at the Pennsylvi
from left, Rich Galutia,
Roush, Penn State associi
executive vice president; Pi
swine specialist; and Mike I
program coordinators.
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