title: Health risk from veterinary antimicrobial use in China's food animal production and its reduction.
abstract: The overuse and misuse of veterinary drugs, particularly antimicrobials, in food animal production in China cause environmental pollution and wide food safety concerns, and pose public health risk with the selection of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) that can spread from animal populations to humans. Elevated abundance and diversity of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and resistant bacteria (including multi-drug resistant strains) in food-producing animals, food products of animal origin, microbiota of human gut, and environmental media impacted by intensive animal farming have been reported. To rein in drug use in food animal production and protect public health, the government made a total of 227 veterinary drugs, including 150 antimicrobial products, available only by prescription from licensed veterinarians for curing, controlling, and preventing animal diseases in March 2014. So far the regulatory ban on non-therapeutic use has failed to bring major changes to the long-standing practice of drug overuse and misuse in animal husbandry and aquaculture, and significant improvement in its implementation and enforcement is necessary. A range of measures, including improving access to veterinary services, strengthening supervision on veterinary drug production and distribution, increasing research and development efforts, and enhancing animal health management, are recommended to facilitate transition toward rational use of veterinary drugs, particularly antimicrobials, and to reduce the public health risk arising from AMR development in animal agriculture.
authors.affiliation: School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China.
authors.forename: Yuanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China. Electronic address: hefac@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Hefa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000820:Animal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002681:China; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health; D012307:Risk Factors; D019155:Veterinary Drugs
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D019155:Veterinary Drugs
keywords: Antimicrobial; Antimicrobial growth promoter (AGP); Antimicrobial resistance (AMR); Drug residue; Health risk; Intensive animal farming