Animal agriculture is not the cause of antibiotic resistance

There’s no arguing that antimicrobial resistance is a concern and something to be cognizant about. The ability to treat a wide range of diseases and illnesses is an extremely valuable tool that we need to keep effective.

My concerns with the “MD legislation guards against superbugs” (May 8) article is the lack of understanding and differentiation between antimicrobial usage in Maryland and globally. The true problem with antimicrobial resistance is a cause of human overuse and misuse.

As of 2017, medically important antibiotics are not being used in feed for growth promotion. Livestock caretakers must now work with a veterinarian to obtain a “veterinary feed directive” in order to feed a medically important antibiotic. These directives are only given when necessary. In addition, Maryland took the federal feed directive rule a step further, creating even stricter regulations on antimicrobial usage in animal agriculture.

According to a December report from the Food and Drug Administration, antibiotic usage in animal agriculture is greatly declining. The report outlines that sales and distribution of medically important antibiotics for use in livestock have declined by 33% between 2016 and 2017.

Another important point to make is that the most used antimicrobials in livestock are different than those most used to treat humans. The vast majority of antibiotics are either used in people or animals, but very rarely both.For instance, tetracycline is the most used class in animals at 41 percent, while it makes up just 4 percent of usage in humans — the vast majority of that use is in human acne cream. Penicillins are the most used in humans at 44 percent, but only comprise 6 percent of animal agriculture use. Lonophores which make up 30 percent of usage in animals are not used for human treatment.

Overuse and misuse of medically important antibiotics in human use is the number one reason for the increase in resistant bacteria in our environment. While it may be simpler to blame the agriculture industry, true improvements will not be made until we realize that human antibiotic use is the true concern. Animal agriculture is already making improvements in antibiotic stewardship. Now, it’s time for humans to do the same.

Colby Ferguson

The writer is director of government relations at the Maryland Farm Bureau.