Antimicrobial use in food animals selects for antimicrobial resistance in bacteria, which can spread to people. Reducing use of antimicrobials-particularly those deemed to be critically important for human medicine-in food production animals continues to be an important step for preserving the benefits of these antimicrobials for people. The World Health Organization ranking of antimicrobials according to their relative importance in human medicine was recently updated. Antimicrobials considered the highest priority among the critically important antimicrobials were quinolones, third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins, macrolides and ketolides, and glycopeptides. The updated ranking allows stakeholders in the agriculture sector and regulatory agencies to focus risk management efforts on drugs used in food animals that are the most important to human medicine. In particular, the current large-scale use of fluoroquinolones, macrolides, and third-generation cephalosporins and any potential use of glycopeptides and carbapenems need to be addressed urgently.
Antimicrobial agents are useful for control of bacterial infections in food animals and man. Their prudent use in these animals is important to control any possible development and transfer of resistance between animals and man. The objective of this study was to generate quantitative information to evaluate antimicrobial usage patterns by animal species, route of administration, antimicrobial class and type of use from 1995 to 1999 in Kenya. Theses data are essential for risk analysis and planning and can be helpful in interpreting resistance surveillance data, and evaluating the effectiveness of prudent use efforts and antimicrobial resistance mitigation strategies. Data on quantities of active substance classes were collected from the official records of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of the Ministry of Health and analysed in MS Excel 2000 program. The mean antimicrobial consumption for the 5-year period was 14 594 +/- 1457 kg per year. This was distributed in the various antimicrobial classes as follows: 7975 kg (54.65%) of tetracyclines, 3103.96 kg (21.27%) of sulfonamides and 954.5 kg (6.56%) of aminoglycosides, 905 kg (6.20%) of beta-lactams, 94 kg (0.64%) of quinolones, 35 kg (0.24%) of macrolides and 24 kg (0.16%) of others (tiamulin). Mean consumption per year among the various food animals was: 10 989 +/- 357 kg in large animals (cattle, sheep, pigs and goats), 2906 +/- 127 kg in poultry alone and 699 +/- 427 kg in both large animals and poultry. These quantities represented 56.56% (8255 kg) consumption per year for parenteral use, 41.79% (6098 kg) for oral use and 1.65% (241 kg) for topical use (intramammary and eye ointments) in cattle. With respect to intended use in food producing animals, the mean consumption per year was: 13 178 kg (90.30%) for therapeutic use (ST), 4 kg (0.03%) for prophylactic treatment (PT) and 1411 +/- 246 kg (9.67%) was used both for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes (GPT). The study confirmed that antimicrobials are not used for growth promotion in Kenya. There was no specific trend in the quantities of active antimicrobial classes. This study has revealed that the tetracyclines, sulfonamides and trimethoprim, nitrofurans aminoglycosides, beta-lactams and the quinolones are the most commonly used drugs in food-producing animals in Kenya. Tetracyclines contributed approximately 55% of the total consumption, and there was an increasing trend in the consumption of quinolones from 1998.
Background: Salmonellosis is considered one of the most widespread food-borne zoonoses in industrialized as well as developing countries. The presence of Salmonella in food animals at slaughter and the consequent cross-contamination of edible carcass tissues present a significant food safety hazard. Methodology: Samples were collected from randomly selected pigs at the Ndumbuini abattoir in Nairobi. Isolates were confirmed to be Salmonella by biochemical tests and characterised by serotyping, phage typing and plasmid analysis. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of eight antimicrobials were determined and the resistant isolates were screened for resistance genes by PCR. Results: Sixteen (13.8%) of 116 samples were positive for Salmonella. Three Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovars, namely Saintpaul, Braenderup, and Heidelberg were identified, S. Saintpaul being predominant. Antimicrobial resistance was found in 35.7% of the isolates. The S. Heidelberg isolates were susceptible to all the antimicrobials tested. Multidrug resistance was found in 7.1% of the Salmonella isolates. Plasmids were only detected in S. Heidelberg. Ampicillin resistance was based on expression of a bla TEM gene, while chloramphenicol, streptomycin, and tetracycline resistances were encoded by the genes catA1, strA, and tet(A), respectively. Conclusions: Pigs may serve as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistant Salmonella and slaughterhouse cross-contamination of pork may be a food safety risk.
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