Pig study boost for viruses that cure
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE a newly discovered organism could help revolutionise how livestock with bacterial diseases are treated and dramatically reduce the use of antibiotics on farms.
Ground-breaking research has identified organisms which are able to target harmful bacteria and leave ‘good’ bacteria intact in pigs.
In the study, 20 bacteriophages – or bacterial viruses – that target 72 strains of potentially drugresistant bacteria and can cause gut problems in pigs were able to be isolated and scientists believe these bacteriophages could either accompany or replace antibiotics used to treat bacterial disease across all types of livestock.
The breakthrough could also help speed the development of similar applications in human medicine, addressing a concerning worldwide rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria.
A report last year, the O’Neill Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, suggested that up to 10m people a year could die by 2050 due to drug-resistant infections. The warning prompted international efforts to cut reliance on antibiotics in both human and animal medicine in an attempt to preserve their effectiveness.
In the UK, a response to the threat within the agricultural and food industries is being co-ordinated by RUMA. The industry group welcomed the discovery by Prof Martha Clokie and her team of scientists at Leicester University in a study funded by farmers via the AHDB Pork levy body.
John FitzGerald, RUMA’s secretary general, said: “Phage technology is in fact fairly old, but its development stalled because antibiotics were – until recently – very effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria. However, the build-up of resistance has created new opportunities for phage technology; a discovery such as this could be a real game-changer, not just helping the farming industry to steward antibiotics more effectively but potentially speeding up the development of human medical applications.”
Dr Charlotte Evans, technical senior manager with AHDB Pork, added: “There’s still a long way to go in terms of trials and li- censing but we are very pleased this research, which was started two years ago, has already yielded such promising results.
“Bacteriophage treatment is about using increased volumes of something that is already present to target harmful bacteria. Research suggests they do not harm other organisms because the relevant receptor is not present.”
Dr Evans said the next step for scientists was to determine whether bacteriophages could be applied via spray, injection or vaccination, or by adding to feed or water.
Around 37 per cent of the UK’s antibiotics are currently used for treating disease in farm animals. The latest sales data shows there was a 10 per cent fall in sales of antibiotic products into farming between 2014 and 2015.