December 9, 2009

The Netherlands focuses on antibiotic supervising

The Royal Dutch Veterinary Organisation (KNMvD) is calling for an independent antibiotics supervising authority to issue warnings and enforce penalties in a bid to tackle multiresistant bacteria (MRSA).

Scientists have long warned that the use of antibiotics is causing bacteria to become resistant, which could have repercussions in public health. 

The proposal follows the publication of a report on MRSA in the animal production chain in the Netherlands.

The independent supervisor will analyse data on the prescription of antibiotics by veterinarians. The veterinarians agreed to voluntarily archive their prescriptions in a central database to enable monitoring. The archiving has already been started, said the KNMvD.

The vets hope that this new proposal will sidestep the stricter guidelines proposed by the minister of agriculture, Gerda Verburg, who is examining a plan to prohibit the selling of medicines by veterinarians.

This is already the case in Denmark, where they also have experience with centrally stored data on prescriptions. Currently, a substantial part of veterinarian's income in the Netherlands comes from selling medicines.

The MRSA report said 68.3 percent of 202 pig farms tested positive for MRSA. In veal farms, 27.5 percent of calves were found positive and MRSA was present in 88 percent of examined veal farms.

Out of the 40 broiler flocks that were examined in poultry slaughterhouses, 35 percent tested positive for and 6.9 percent were found to be MRSA throat carriers. The prevalence of MRSA among poultry slaughterhouse workers was 5.6 percent. MRSA was isolated from 11.9 percent of the raw meat samples taken from retail businesses.

The report concludes that MRSA spreads throughout the Dutch intensive livestock farming sectors, similar to what has been observed across other countries in the world. The conclusion also said there is a higher carrier-risk in livestock farming.

The Dutch lower house will discuss antibiotic use in livestock on December 10.