Antibiotics Usage In Livestock Concerns Animal And Human Health- Study

With support from the USP Innovation Agency (Auspin), a group of researchers developed the patent New treatment for endometritis without the use of antibiotics . “The difference is that this product is a biomaterial and does not cause residues in the animal, that is, unlike antibiotics, it can be administered”, explains Lilian Gregory, professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science at USP.

Endometritis is an inflammation caused by uterine infection resulting from bacteria entering the body. In the case of ruminant animals, the disease causes infertility and directly affects animal production and reproduction, irresponsibly required in intensive breeding systems. According to Lilian, derivatives such as meat and milk can be consumed immediately after applying the product to the animal.

The drug is innocuous and benefits from absorbent, healing, antiseptic and analgesic properties. Its clayey composition, for example, helps control possible infertility processes. The product also has controlled release, that is, the treatment is not daily. Placed inside the uterus, the active principle of the product is released a little at a time, elaborates the teacher.

“If we think of a farm that has a thousand animals raised on pasture, we will have to find this sick animal every day, bring it to the corral and carry out the treatment. This management is complicated and causes stress to the animal”, he concludes.

The patent involved the clinical medicine department at the FMVZ, with Lilian and Bruno Leonardo Mendonça Ribeiro, and the materials engineering department at the Polytechnic Institute, with Francisco Valenzuela and Margarita Bobadilla.

The history of controlling antibiotic resistance
In 2018, the European Parliament approved a proposal to regulate the use of antibiotics in animals. Four years later, the European Union prohibited the indiscriminate use of these drugs in animal husbandry on farms, due to the containment of the proliferation of superbugs.

In January 2020, the Secretariat for Agricultural Defense of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply prohibited the import, manufacture, sale and use of three antibiotic additives throughout the national territory. Currently, it only allows two: bacitracin and virginiamycin.

In the face of antimicrobial resistance, animal and human health is put at risk. Medical treatments in animals are difficult, given that the main purpose is to promote growth, especially in inadequate sanitary conditions and in high-density confinement spaces. On the human side, in addition to the high consumption of these animals, the transmission of diseases in the animal herd tends to spread to the population. such as influenza A/H1N1, known as swine flu.