THE RISKS OF RESISTANCE
A human with a resistant infection will remain ill longer, have a greater risk of death and cost more money to treat, whilst increasing the risk of spreading the infection.
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"Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness at a rate that is both alarming and irreversible - similar to global warming."
Professor Dame Sally Davies 2012
The concern from the livestock sector is that the development of resistant pathogens in pig and poultry units will impact human health.
This pressures livestock sectors, jeopardising food security as farm mortality rates rise. Considerable yield losses risk being incurred if a pig dies of infections before reaching slaughter weight, cows succumb to disease mid-lactation and laying birds die before leading a fully productive life.
The threat of antimicrobial resistance has been likened to that of global warming and terrorism by Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England.
This concern was reflected on the global stage in 2013 when politicians put AMR firmly in the limelight when it made the agenda at the G8 summit.
G8 Science Ministers released a statement promising collaborative action to, ‘preserve the efficacy of existing microbial agents, in part by avoiding misuse and optimising prescribing practices in our respective countries.’
