Scott Discusses Antibiotic Resistance at New York Symposium
H. Morgan Scott, a professor in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) Department of Veterinary Pathobiology (VTPB), discussed his work on antibiotic resistance on April 2, as part of The New York Academy of Sciences symposium on “Antibiotics in Animal Agriculture: What You Need to Know.”
Presented by The New York Academy of Sciences and Elanco Animal Health, the symposium included five scientific sessions led by experts from the United States and England.
In addition to participating on a panel discussion, Scott discussed “Antibiotic-resistant bacteria in food animal agriculture: criteria for importance and guidelines for reducing antibiotics use,” during which he will review the rationale behind multiple and competing “critically important antimicrobial” (CIA) lists and their contexts as created by international, regional, and national organizations; identify discrepancies among these lists; and describe issues surrounding risk management recommendations that have been made by regulatory organizations on the use of antibiotics in food animal production.
“Globally, increasing acquired antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among pathogenic bacteria presents an urgent challenge to human and animal health,” Scott said. “As a result, significant efforts, such as the One Health Initiative, are underway to curtail and optimize the use of critically important antimicrobials for human medicine in all applications, including food animal production.”
Scott and his co-authors call for a more harmonized approach to defining criticality in its various contexts, such as for human versus animal health, in order to identify shared contextual features, aid in their translation into risk management, and identify the best ways to maintain the health of food animals, all while keeping in mind the wider risks of AMR, environmental impacts, and animal welfare considerations.
