High rates of bacteria resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic in human medicine, have been found in flies around Chinese poultry farms, an article prepared by Rabobank and released this month said.
Rabobank cited a study published in Nature Microbiology, which showed that flies can spread antibiotic resistance and which identified poultry farms as a source of colistin resistance.
"As a result of these findings, we expect tighter regulation regarding the use of antibiotic growth promoters in livestock farming in emerging markets", Rabobank said.
It said the experience of Europe-where programmes to reduce the use of antibiotics have already been in place for over a decade-showed that an early focus on improving farming practices and non-antibiotic growth promoters fosters a production infrastructure that supports sustainable technical performance.
"Antibiotics can only mask inferior farm management for a while, and as such, they support a relatively strong technical performance only temporarily", the article said.