Experts warn: Beware of killer meat from animals, fowls bred with excess antibiotics
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Adequate protein intake is critical for health and body growth. Studies have shown that, generally, protein of animal origin is of higher quality for humans owing to its amino acid pattern and good digestibility. When administered in mixtures, it enhances the quality of plant proteins, but its availability is often low in low-income communities, like Nigeria, especially in young children, the elderly, pregnant and lactating mothers, who require it more to stimulate (bone) growth and maintenance.
Meanwhile, despite its short supply, protein is facing a new threat worldwide as the World Health Organisation, WHO, raised the alarm over outrageous abuse of antibiotics in animals. According to WHO, the abuse is spreading antibiotics resistance in human. Although, antibiotics resistance occurs naturally, the misuse in humans and animals is accelerating the process and leading to premature deaths.
Before now, medical experts had expressed worry over the rampant overuse of antibiotics in the agricultural sector. Although they acknowledged that the abuse could speed up growth of cattle, pigs and chickens and prevent disease among animals crowded together in unsanitary conditions, they have continued to express worry that overuse of these important medicines could stimulate the emergence of bacteria resistant to some of the antibiotics used to treat humans.
In Nigeria today, many consumers of animals slaughtered in abattoirs scattered across the country do not know the status of the animals. Even the fowls put for sale by the road side are not exempted. Most of them are grown with antibiotics which experts say could not only cause resistance but could lead to death of human beings. According to the experts, when antibiotics are used in animals, there is what is known as withdrawal period. But the question arises, do our farmers observe this waiting period before selling the animals off?
Findings have shown that in a bid to speed up growth and satisfy their economic gains, many farmers push these animals out for sale without regard to the withdrawal period. Sadly, the harm done to public health by the continuous use of antibiotics in healthy and unhealthy animals by farmers has become a source of worry globally.
Only last week, WHO raised the alarm over the over-use and misuse of antibiotics in animals. In a new report, the global body said the abuse was contributing to the rising threat of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections but resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of the medicines.
According to experts, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development. Although antibiotic resistance can affect anyone of any age, WHO says in some countries, approximately 80 per cent of the total consumption of medically important antibiotics is in the animal sector, largely for growth promotion in healthy animals, and Nigeria is not an exemption.
It has also be proven that a growing number of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis – are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective.
According to WHO, some types of bacteria that cause serious infections in humans have already developed resistance to most or all of the available treatments, and there are very few promising options in the research pipeline. The Director- General of WHO, Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, believes that lack of effective antibiotics is a security threat and can as well fuel outbreak of deadly diseases. And the report of a study conducted in the UK revealed that unless there is urgent action to tackle antibiotics resistant between now and 2050, about 300 million people may die premature of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which will cost global economy up to $100 trillion.
Reacting to the WHO systematic review published Wednesday in The Lancet Planetary Health, Ghebreyesus said to tackle this abuse, healthy animals should only receive antibiotics to prevent disease if they have been diagnosed in other animals in the same flock, herd or fish population. He directed farmers to stop using antibiotics in animals unless they are sick, adding that “strong and sustained action across all sectors is vital if we are to turn back the tide of antimicrobial resistance and keep the world safe”. .Corroborating his views, the Director of the Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses at WHO, Dr. Kazuaki Miyagishima, said: “The volume of antibiotics used in animals is continuing to increase worldwide, driven by a growing demand for foods of animal origin, often produced through intensive animal husbandry”.
However, health watchers are worried that the problem may be prevalent in Nigeria where little or no regulation is in place. In countries like Nigeria where antibiotics are bought for human or animal use without a prescription, the emergence and spread of resistance is made worse. Similarly, it is no longer news that efforts to control abuse of prescription drugs and standard treatment guidelines have not worked. In Nigeria, findings have shown that antibiotics are often over-prescribed by health workers and veterinarians and over-used by the public. Indiscriminate antibiotics’ use in animals may lead to human deaths – Vet expert Health experts are also worried that without urgent action, countries may end up in a situation where common infections and minor injuries can kill.
According to a member of Commonwealth Veterinary Association, Dr. Tunji Nasir, abuse of antibiotics in animals is a potential danger to humans that can lead to death. Nasir said it is time to change the way these drugs are prescribed and used.
He explained that using antibiotic in a non-judicious ways in animal, even though the antibiotic is what has been determined to work for that particular ailment in the animal, poses a lot of health challenges to consumers. Nasir, who is also the Managing Director, Truthmiles Animal Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos regretted that Nigerian veterinary doctors are yet to be up standing in their professional duties. “There is something we call the withdrawal period when treating animals with antibiotics. If it is not strictly adhered to after the conclusion period, it becomes a problem in human.
Some of these drugs require a period of one month or more. Some require two weeks or seven days depending on the antibiotics before an animal can be slaughtered and eaten by humans”, he said “If you do not adhere to the period of withdrawal and the animal is slaughtered and sold to people, the remnants of the antibiotics will still be in the system of that animal. When people now eat such animal, the remnants in the animal will be automatically consumed. For such individuals, anytime they try to take similar antibiotic, it will not work because the residues have already passed from the animal to their system. This is why people complain that antibiotics are not working and in the process they may die.” He warned that it was unnecessary pumping antibiotics into animals without observing the withdrawal period. According to him, to prevent antibiotic resistance, the agriculture sector should only give antibiotics to animals under veterinary supervision. And the use of antibiotics for growth promotion or to prevent diseases in healthy animals should stop.
Throwing more light on the withdrawal period for antibiotic, he lamented that in Nigeria most feeds are mixed with antibiotics while animals that consume them are sold to unsuspecting Nigerians in the markets almost immediately. “Anybody that is eating such animals is unwittingly eating antibiotics that he or she does not need and when they now take similar antibiotics for an ailment it will not work. This is why you see people dying from an ailment antibiotics should have taken care of. He called for massive education of farmers and the need for veterinary doctors to ensure that animals are not given antibiotics anyhow. “There are alternatives that should be given and not antibiotics every time. Even the people selling chicken on the roadsides should also be trained. Nigerians are unduly being exposed to danger.” Nasir wondered why farmers should use feed-grade antibiotics for livestock. “They claim it helps the growth and prevents infections but this is wrong because there are alternatives that can enhance growth. This should be stopped,” he added. He further called for effective monitoring of the agricultural sector, particularly the farms by regulatory agencies like the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.
“Regulatory agencies should pay unscheduled visits to these farms from time to time to ensure that antibiotics are not unnecessarily mixed feeds. This problem should also be checked from the professionals in terms of treatment. The veterinary experts should also be responsible.” Alleging that farmers are only concerned about the economic gains, he said they should be educated that they are unwittingly killing and exposing Nigerians to danger. Also speaking to Sunday Vanguard, Assistant Director, Dietetics, OAUTHC, Ile Ife, Osun State, Dr. Ogbonna Obinna, lamented that despite the dangers posed by the overuse of antibiotics in the agricultural sector, not much is being done in terms of regulation. According to Ogbonna, when antibiotics are misused in animals, it could lead to drug interactions. He said that apart from drug interactions and resistance, it may lead to other health challenges. Ogbonna stressed the need for veterinary doctors to certify animals /birds before they are slaughtered or sold for human consumption.
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