Breeding without antibiotics, how difficult is it? - Status of red alert

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Dangers of overuse of antibiotics
Along with WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO has also repeatedly warned that the overuse of antibiotics in cattle and poultry farms in Vietnam to treat, prevent diseases or stimulate growth has increased the likelihood of antibiotic resistance of bacteria, posing a great risk to the future of the species.

The rate of antibiotic resistance in Vietnam is at an alarming level

According to FAO, the improper use of antibiotics in animals can help bacteria develop into drug-resistant superbugs. When the disease is caused by these viruses, there is no antibiotic that can cure it, so the mortality rate is often very high, sometimes up to 100%.

Scientists and doctors working at the Department of Microbiology, Bach Mai Hospital recently shared that E.coli bacteria are now resistant to Carbapenem and Colistin antibiotics, which are considered the last weapon. to treat. The antibiotic resistance rate of E. coli bacteria has increased by 30-40% compared to 2009.

Even, the drug resistance rate of E.coli in some southern provinces is up to more than 74%; The rate of resistance of bacteria causing K. pneumoniae infection is approximately 60%; Bacteria A.baumannii (which causes nosocomial infections) is resistant to most antibiotics at levels above 90%.

In particular, currently Vietnam has appeared multi-resistant bacteria resistant to 2 groups of antibiotics and fully resistant to all antibiotics. Therefore, while many developed countries use 1st generation antibiotics for effective treatment, in Vietnam, 3rd and 4th generation antibiotics have to be used.

Meanwhile, from 1983-1987, the US Food and Drug Administration only issued certificates of use for 18 antibiotics. Since 2008, no new antibiotics have been discovered. The prospect of a future when bacteria are resistant to most of the most powerful antibiotics man has created is truly dire, where people can die from simple injuries.

Therefore, WHO constantly warns, currently every year around the world, about 700,000 people die from drug resistance and it is forecasted that by 2050, one person will die every three seconds from drug-resistant superbugs, equivalent to about 10 million people a year, higher than the death rate from cancer.

Poetry, lack of understanding of antibiotic resistance

Dr. Ha Thuy Hanh, deputy director of the National Center for Agricultural Extension, shared that although antibiotics play a very important role in the prevention and treatment of livestock diseases not only in our country but also around the world, in Vietnam the weather is variable. Due to the erratic changes, the disease situation is complicated, so the use of antibiotics in livestock is very common.

The rate of using antibiotics to prevent and treat diseases in livestock and poultry in Vietnam is still quite common

In Vietnam, the roadmap for banning the use of antibiotics mixed in feed will be applied from January 1, 2018 (Decree No. 39/2017/ND-CP). However, it must be acknowledged that this regulation has not been effective due to the synchronous stages involved such as state management, inspection, examination, sanctions, vaccines, and safe livestock. biology and propaganda to raise awareness among farmers about the use of antibiotic alternatives.
In addition, the awareness of state management agencies, production and trading establishments of veterinary drugs, animal feed, the system of veterinarians and breeders about antibiotics is still low, so the abuse, even Even the illegal use of antibiotics in livestock has not been thoroughly dealt with.

Investigation results of the Department of Animal Health on the use of antibiotics in livestock production in 5 provinces (Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh) show that nearly 100% of large farms use it. antibiotics to prevent and treat diseases, 68% of pig farms use mixed feed containing antibiotics to prevent diseases and stimulate growth.

Statistics also show that, annually, the livestock industry uses approximately 50 tons of antibiotics for poultry production and nearly 1,000 tons of antibiotics for pig production. Antibiotics commonly used by pig farms are Amoxicillin, Tylosin, Tetracycline, Lincomycin, Gentamycin, Tylosine, Enrofloxacin, Neomycin.

Most recently, through the Project on biosecurity solutions, reducing the use of antibiotics in pig and poultry production sponsored by the Vietnam - Belgium Research and Consulting Fund in October 2018 - March 2019, The Institute of Livestock Production (MARD) has directly surveyed and evaluated pig and poultry farming households in Hanoi and Dong Nai, showing that farmers still use antibiotics regularly with high frequency.

Dr. Ngo Thi Kim Cuc, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Livestock Production, said that all surveyed pig and chicken raising households used antibiotics to prevent disease, mix them with food and drink to prevent disease or treatment injections. Breeders use many different antibiotics for disease prevention according to their experience, only in difficult cases call the veterinarian.

Meanwhile, most farmers are indifferent or do not understand clearly about the necessary antibiotic dose, appropriate time to use, how long to isolate… Therefore, there is a risk of antibiotic residues in animal products. time to slaughter is very high, thereby directly contributing to the increase in antibiotic resistance rates in bacteria.

“Through the survey, we found that most of the farmers did not know the legal regulations on the list and the amount of antibiotics allowed to be used in animal and poultry feed. Many farmers do not care or do not know the risk of antibiotic residues in their products as well as the risk of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The dangers of antibiotic resistance in bacteria to human and animal health are not well understood. This is a situation that needs special attention if Vietnam's livestock industry wants to integrate and open up," said Dr. Ngo Thi Kim Cuc.

According to WHO and FAO, there are three main reasons leading to the increase in antibiotic resistance in Vietnam, which is the unscientific use of antibiotics in the treatment of human diseases, due to direct contact between humans and animals. Farming leads to the exchange and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and another cause is eating animal products that have antibiotic residues or contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria.