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Government scientists have found a gene, which makes bacteria resistant to an antibiotic used as a last resort in human medicine, in E. coli from pigs and from human E. coli infections in England and Wales [1]. The emergence of resistance to the antibiotic, colistin, is considered to be a major step towards completely untreatable infections. The colistin resistance gene, called mcr-1, was first found last month in China in pigs, retail meat and human infections [2]. Colistin is frequently used for mass medication of intensively farmed pigs and poultry, and scientists believe that the resistance gene has spread from farm animals to humans because the antibiotic is used much more widely in veterinary medicine than it is in human medicine. A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics has established that 837kg of colistin were sold for use in British farm animals in 2014, whereas just 300kg are used per year in human medicine [3]. In Europe as a whole, the amount used in farm animals (545 tonnes) is more than 500 times higher than the amount used in humans (about 1 tonne), with use in farm animals in Spain (177 tonnes), Italy (133 tonnes), Germany (124 tonnes) and France (50 tonnes) being particularly high [4]. Cóilín Nunan, Scientific Adviser to the Alliance, said “Despite scientists saying that resistance to this last-resort antibiotic is likely to be spreading from farm animals to humans, it still remains completely legal in the UK and in most EU countries to routinely feed colistin to large groups of intensively farmed animals, even when no disease has been diagnosed in any of the animals. “We need the government, the European Commission and regulatory bodies like the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to respond urgently. The routine preventative use in farming of colistin, and all antibiotics important in human medicine, needs to be banned immediately.” Since the Chinese discovery of mcr-1 in November, scientists around the world have been re-examining their collections of bacteria from farm animals and humans for the gene. British government scientists found the mcr-1 gene in E. coli from two separate pig farms, in one stored E. coli from a pig, and in three E. coli from two separate patients. The E. coli from the human patients were also resistant to the critically important cephalosporin antibiotics. The colistin gene was also found in ten human salmonella infections and in salmonella from a single imported sample of poultry meat [5]. The earliest British positive sample was a salmonella from 2012. In the past few weeks, the resistance gene has also been found in Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and in several Asian and African countries [6]. The mcr-1 gene is found on mobile pieces of DNA which means it can jump from farm-animal bacteria into bacteria causing human infections. This also explains why it is spreading so widely and is already being found in many different strains of E. coli, salmonella and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Recently 20 senior representatives from health and medical organisations co-signed a letter, published in the Times, calling on the UK Government and European Commission to put an end to routine, purely preventative antibiotic use in groups of healthy animals [7]. The letter follows a Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s report which revealed that the total UK veterinary sales in 2014 of antibiotics classified as “critically important in human medicine” increased by 3% to a new record high [8]. UK veterinary and farming sectors have agreed to temporarily limit the use of colistin, but no action has been taken by regulators to stop routine mass medication with the antibiotic. Notes for Editors [1] VMD releases more details of UK mcr-1 gene tests, Vet Times [2] Liu et al. Emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mechanism MCR-1 in animals and human beings in China: a microbiological and molecular biological study. Lancet Infectious Diseases [3] Farm-animal statistics were acquired from the VMD via an FOI, human use statistics are available here [4] Colistin is a polymixin antibiotic. Use of polymixins in humans and farm-animals in Europe is available here [5] Scientists find mcr-1 gene in food and human isolates, Vet Times [6] See various reports from Lancet Infectious Diseases [7] Letter to The Times drafted by the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics [8] See more here The antibiotics classified as the most critically important human medicine are the fluoroquinolones and the modern cephalosporins. The total sales in recent years of CIAs in kgs of active ingredient is below. The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics is an alliance of health, medical, environmental and animal welfare groups working to stop the overuse of antibiotics in animal farming. It was founded by Compassion in World Farming, the Soil Association and Sustain in 2009, and is supported by the Jeremy Coller Foundation. Its vision is a world in which human and animal health and wellbeing are protected by food and farming systems that do not rely routinely on antibiotics and related drugs. For media enquiries, please contact: Emily McCoy, Press Officer, Soil Association: 0117 314 5195 – emccoy@soilassociation.org Hayley Coristine, Digital Communications and Press Officer, Soil Association: 0117 314 5170 – hcoristine@soilassociation.org Organic farming Organic animals Organic food Organic textiles Organic beauty Organic standards Organic principles Buy organic Grow organic Visit an organic farm Eating out Join a local group Practical skills School food Early years food Hospital food School food in Scotland Future growers Community supported agriculture Land Trust Sustainable food cities Not in our Bread Soils GM - Genetic Modification Keep Britain Buzzing Not in my Banger Save our Seeds Save our Antibiotics Out to Lunch Cottoned On Labelling Matters Become a member Donate to us Fundraise for us Include us in your will Choose our partners Members area Sign up to e-news Who we are What we do Our history Funding Annual review Jobs News and media Contact us We wish to thank the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for supporting the development of our website
