Report: US seeking weaker global guidelines for antibiotic use in livestock
The Trump administration is working behind the scenes to weaken global recommendations on antibiotic use in food-producing animals, according to a story yesterday in Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reports that US officials are helping to shape the recommendations through the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an agency that develops food standards and guidelines for international trade. The US is leading a working group to update guidelines for antibiotic use along the food chain.
According to a draft document obtained by Bloomberg, the recommendations from the group are weaker than those put forth in a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) in November 2017. While the WHO called for an end to the use of medically important antibiotics for growth promotion and disease prevention in healthy food-producing animals, the draft document suggests medically important antibiotics could still be used for disease prevention. In addition, the draft contains a loophole that would allow antibiotics to be used for growth promotion, a practice that's banned in the United States and other countries.
The US Department of Agriculture has criticized the WHO report, arguing that the recommendations are not supported by sound science.
Jul 23 Bloomberg story
Nov 7, 2017, CIDRAP News story, "WHO calls for an end to antibiotic use in healthy animals"
Open-access database of forgotten antibiotics launches
Today UK researchers launched AntibioticDB, a free, open-access database of forgotten antibiotics in hopes of generating new leads in the fight against antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
The searchable database brings together many once-promising leads from the past 50 years that have for various reasons stalled or been dropped, according to a news release from the John Innes Centre (JIC). The team behind AntibioticDB, led by Prof Laura Piddock of the University of Birmingham, argue that discontinued agents are an untapped resource that has been overlooked for drug development.
The researchers used a range of sources to identify compounds of interest, including leaders in the pharmaceutical industry and other key scientists. They obtained information on each compound or drug using online searches, literature archives, and interviews with experts. They include other data, as well, such as reasons for the lack of development.
Piddock said, "It can take up to 15 years and cost up to $5 billion from the discovery of a compound to progress through pre-clinical and clinical development before a medicine can be licensed and then marketed. There is no doubt that the antibiotic pipeline needs revitalization; however, the answer may be not only the development of new drugs, but also re-investigating compounds previously discontinued."
The team detailed its efforts last month in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.
Jul 24 JIC news release
Jun 11 J Antimicrob Chemother report
AntibioticDB website
Study notes highest rate of ESBL colonization in travelers to North Africa
A systematic review of three studies involving data on extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE) among travelers from Europe to Africa found that the ESBL-PE colonization rate was highest in North Africa, according to a study yesterday in BMC Infectious Diseases.
The studies were conducted from 2009 through 2013 and involved 396 Finnish and Dutch travelers. The researchers also compared the data to two recent large investigations reporting data by subregion and country in Africa.
The ESBL-PE colonization rate was highest in North Africa, followed by middle and eastern Africa, and lowest in southern and western Africa. Of individual countries with more than 15 visitors, the highest rates were seen for Egypt (12/17, 70.6%), Ghana (6/23, 26.1%), and Tanzania (14/81, 17.3%). The rate among travelers to Egypt is comparable to those reported in South and Southeast Asia, the authors write.
They conclude, "Even in areas with relatively low risk of colonization, antimicrobials clearly predispose to colonization with ESBL-PE. Travellers to Africa should be cautioned against unnecessary use of antibiotics."
Jul 23 BMC Infect Dis study