ARS | Publication request: Actual and future solutions for the resistance problem at the human-animal interface of resistance

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: January 21, 2010
Publication Date: April 1, 2010
Citation: Callaway, T.R., Vlieghe, E., Anderson, R.C., Edrington, T.S., Poole, T.L., Maldonado, C., Nisbet, D.J. 2010. Actual and future solutions for the resistance problem at the human-animal interface of resistance (HAIR). Proceedings of International Congress of Chemotherapy. p. 9-15.

Technical Abstract: Many antimicrobial-resistant bacteria can and do inhabit the gastrointestinal tracts of food animals. Slaughter facilities reduce the incidence of antimicrobial organisms in food, but exposure via other routes still poses a public health threat. Thus, it is critical to reduce the presence of antimicrobial-resistant organisms as well as other pathogenic bacteria species from food animals on the farm, consequently improving food safety and human health. A broad range of pre-slaughter intervention strategies are currently under investigation, including direct anti-bacterial strategies and competitive enhancement strategies. Included in these strategies are competitive exclusion, probiotics, prebiotics, antibiotics, antibacterial proteins, vaccination, and bacteriophage. The parallel and simultaneous application of one or more pre-slaughter strategies can erect multiple hurdles, thus preventing entry of pathogens into the food chain.