April 19, 2006

 

Ban on antiviral drugs for animals sparks debate on antibiotics ban

 

 

As drug manufacturers crank up production of bird-flu vaccines for chickens and raise production of such drugs into the hundreds of millions, health experts are worried that widespread use would only increase the resistance of future generations of bacteria and viruses.

 

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a prohibition on antiviral drug use in farm animals, saying that the practice could lessen the drugs' effectiveness against bird flu.

 

Although both antibiotics and antiviral drugs can cause increased resistance with widespread use, the FDA has not required less use of antibiotics in livestock.

 

However, poultry producers have launched their own initiatives. Four major chicken producers announced earlier this year they had voluntarily reduced their use of antibiotics. One of them, Tyson Foods, announced that it had reduced antibiotic use by 93 percent.

 

As farmers are not required to report antibiotic use, no official figures on usage is available. Estimates put the total use at between 20 million and 30 million pounds annually, most of it in animal feed.

 

David Wallinga, director of the food and health programme at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), an advocacy group for ecologically sound agriculture, said most usage of antibiotics in animals is unnecessary.

 

He further added that besides being used to treat diseases, antibiotics have been used to promote animal growth and prevent outbreaks.

 

The IATP is part of a coalition of some 300 health, consumer, agricultural, and environmental groups called Keep Antibiotics Working: The Campaign to End Antibiotic Overuse. The coalition supports legislation that would outlaw usage of eight classes of antibiotics in farm animals except to treat disease.

 

While the FDA admits antibiotic resistance is a problem, it has been tougher on antiviral drugs.

 

The FDA conceded that it knows of no use of antiviral drugs by American farmers but is taking the step as a precaution.

 

Richard Lobb, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council doubts American poultry producers would ever use antiviral drugs.

 

If there is an outbreak of brid flu, farmers would destroy the chickens in their farms so as to stop it from spreading rather than to resort to antiviral drugs, he said.

 

He also sees no need for legislation to ban antibiotics, preferring to let the industry regulate itself, noting that there has been lesser use of antibiotics over the years due to improving flock health and better approaches to animal husbandry.