|
Saying he was condensing a 2-3 day seminar into 30 minutes, Dr. W. Ron DeHaven, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American Veterinary Medical Assn. (AVMA), sought to bring the use of antibiotics home to pork producers at the forum yesterday.
He first noted that the attention to antibiotics use in recent weeks -- CBS, commission reports, legislation, etc. -- has created a public that's "concerned but misinformed" about how antibiotics are used in food animal production.
He then defined a few terms, including microorganisms that are living organisms too small to be seen, antimicrobials that can kill microorganisms or keep them from multiplying and antibiotics that are a subset of antimicrobials.
Resistance, DeHaven said in remarks to the delegates to the board of directors of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), occurs when a microorganism develops a survival rate to antimicrobials.
DeHaven noted that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of antibiotics in animals to achieve growth promotion and to prevent, control and treat disease.
He then laid out several facts:
(1) There is no evidence that antibiotic use in animals causes antibiotic resistance or infections in humans;
(2) There is no evidence that eliminating the use of antibiotics in animals will prevent antibiotic resistance;
(3) The advantages of antibiotics include animal welfare -- disease prevention, control and treatment -- food safety -- healthier animals mean safer food -- and efficiency and growth, and
(4) The disadvantage is that "at some level" resistance may occur.
There are choices, DeHaven said. One is to use lower antibiotic doses in more animals to prevent or higher doses in fewer animals to treat, the latter of which "may be the stronger driver" in creating resistance.
Another is to discontinue use until it can be determined if use leads to resistance or to continue use until it can be determined that mitigating measures are needed to reduce resistance risk. This is more preferable for animal welfare and food safety purposes.
DeHaven said AVMA supports the judicious use of antibiotics in animals and greater veterinarian involvement in the use of antibiotics in animals and subscribes to a position that limitations in use be based on scientific research and risk assessment.
Accordingly, he said AVMA opposes the Preservation of Antibiotics for medical Treatment Act introduced by Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D., N.Y.), which is not supported by science and would eliminate several of the advantages of the use of antibiotics in animals, including for food safety.
He said AVMA prefers to approach the issue through regulation than legislation, the former of which is less political and more scientific, more deliberative, provides for more input and has statutory authority.
The National Pork Forum houses the winter meeting of the National Pork Board and the annual meetings of delegates to the National Pork Act, the board of directors of NPPC and the NPPC board of directors. | 
