June 1, 2005

Feeding of macrolides to poultry a risk to human health

The Poultry Industry Association appears unaware of what antibiotics are being used in their industry, said New Zealand's Green Health Spokesperson Sue Kedgley.

The Green Party said that they used an antibiotic, tylosine, which is part of a group of antibiotics known as macrolides, of which Erythromycin is also a member.

Antibiotics are fed prophylactically to intensively farmed animals, because the unhealthy practice of cramming animals in as small a space as possible makes them particularly susceptible to disease.

However, the Animal Remedies Board has presented well-documented evidence that resistance to the macrolide group of antibiotics fed to animals leads to cross-resistance to macrolide antibiotics used in human medicine.

Since 2001, the Board has recommended that macrolides be considered essential antibiotics and their use in animals be limited to treatment of diseases in individual animals under the supervision of a veterinarian.