Friday, March 29, 2024

Trade opportunities in lower antibiotic use

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A report commissioned by the New Zealand Veterinary Association says opportunities exist for NZ’s bio tech and animal health sectors from rising global concerns over antibiotic resistance.
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Written by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the report was commissioned after the New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) declared its goal earlier this year that by 2030 NZ Inc will not need antibiotics for the maintenance of animal health and wellness.

The report’s authors noted rising concern over antibiotics and resistance is an emerging consumer issue that could affect market access and overseas regulation.

Compared to many overseas countries, NZ’s use of antibiotics in farming systems is relatively low and in some cases half the amount is used compared to the United Kingdom and United States.

With about 50,000 people a year dying from antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacterial infections and possibly hundreds of thousands globally, antibiotic misuse is recognised as one cause of the infections.

The most recognised disease is the MRSA super bug or so called “golden staph” infection that consumes the victim’s flesh on infection.

Because of the close links between human health, animal health and the environment, a cross-disciplinary approach was required to develop a plan of action to deal with the issue.

The report notes the conflict that faces the NZ agricultural sector as it tries to minimise antibiotic use to essential treatments while also facing the need to increase and intensify production under the Government’s Business Growth Agenda.

That requires export values from the agri sector to double by 2025. Greater intensification is also more likely to bring greater risk of infectious diseases, some requiring antibiotic treatment.

The issue of using antibiotics for disease treatment and disease avoidance is examined by the report, which notes 57,000kg of antibiotics are used to treat animals.

However, the proportions used for prevention versus treatment are not known, although estimates are one third is treatment and the rest prevention.

Of the 57,000kg almost 10% is accounted for by dry cow therapy treatment for dairy cows.

The blanket use of dry cow therapy is one of the non-treatment, preventive practices the NZVA is aiming to ultimately replace, particularly as European draft guidelines have appeared recommending zero dry cow therapy in herds.

The report authors cite opportunities in the future coming from areas including “high health husbandry”, with new animal husbandry techniques including genetic selection to improve animals’ natural immune systems and to breed more disease-resistant animals.

The use of onfarm technology could offer advanced warning of infection and therefore the amount of drug treatment required while substituting existing treatments for innovative new therapies might become an option.

NZVA Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy Group chairman Dr Steve Merchant says commitment to innovation in developing alternatives to antibiotics could foster world-leading capability in upstream and downstream industries.

“The most fundamental gain could be in future-proofing the supply chain to overseas markets.

“Concern about antibiotics and resistance is an emerging consumer issue that could affect market access and overseas regulation.”

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