Antibiotics as growth promoters
Antibiotics have been used as feed additives for decades all around the globe by veterinarians and livestock owners to increase the growth rates and efficiency of farmed animals. Their use is so widely spread that it is believed that around 70% of all antibiotics administrated in the world are dedicated to livestock. It has been estimated that between 1 and 10 million tons of antibiotics have been released into the biosphere over the last 60 years.
The problem
There are important global concerns over the use of antibiotics in animal feed. The reason of this is because they promote the selection of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations. These resistant bacteria raised in agricultural environments are then transmitted to humans by different means (food, water, air), causing diseases that cannot be treated by conventional antibiotics.
In spite of the growing concerns about the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains around the world, little work has been done to investigate this issue in the Middle East. A recent study analysed the antibiotic resistance on bacteria isolated from chicken in Egypt showed a high prevalence of resistance to some of the most common antibiotics (gentamicin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, etc) indicating a high risk for the population to get contaminated with antibiotic resistant strains.
Measures of control
Probably the most important reason for antibiotic resistance emergence in the Middle East is the lack of legislation. The only way to solve the resistance problem is to develop strategies to control the overuse of antibiotics. Some other regions have adapted their policies to overcome this problem. In this regard, the use of antibiotics as growth promoters was banned in Europe since 2006, followed by South Korea, in 2011. Also, the U.S. FDA has implemented novel industry guidelines that will limit the use of medically-relevant drugs to uses “that are considered necessary for assuring animal health” by January 2017.
Alternatives
At this point it is essential to search for new, natural and sustainable alternatives to the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in farmed animals. Some of the most promising are:
•Probiotic bacteria
•Non-digestible carbohydrates known as prebiotics.
•Antimicrobial peptides or Bacteriocins
•Bacteriophages
•Organic acids
•Inmunomodulators
Next steps
The proposed measures to be taken in the Middle East in order to reduce the impact of the use of antibiotics as growth promoters are listed below.
•Publicly funded surveillance on the extent of antibiotic resistance among farmed animals.
•Policy revision to limit the use of antibiotics as growth promoters and implementation of an international agenda to match regulatory frameworks among countries.
•Development of programmes to raise public awareness.
•Publicly funded research into alternatives.
