Panel's report likely to tie farm antibiotics to human resistance

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Panel's report likely to tie farm antibiotics to human resistance

By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) - A White House advisory committee is expected to acknowledge the link between antimicrobial resistance in humans and livestock being fed antibiotics when it issues its report in the next few weeks, according to the transcript of a committee meeting held earlier this month. In the transcript, council co-Chairman Eric Lander said there was "clear documentation" that antibiotic-resistant microbes can transfer from farm animals to humans. "That judicious use [of antibiotics] in agriculture right now is absolutely essential," Lander said in the transcript. "There may come a point where one will say it's justified to say no use." Governments and public health officials worldwide have begun ramping up efforts to fight so-called "super bugs" - microbes that have mutated to be resistant to medically important antibiotics such as cephalosporins, which are used to treat hospital-acquired infections like blood infections and meningitis.

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