AVMA Issues Inaugural Report Detailing Antimicrobial Resistance in Animals

August 25, 2020 — 

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the leading advocate for the veterinary profession, today released Antimicrobial Resistant Pathogens Affecting Animal Health in the United States, a comprehensive report detailing the impact of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria on different animal species in the United States. It is the first report highlighting the important role veterinarians play as part of the overall One Health approach to combating antimicrobial resistance through stewardship. [Source: AVMA 25 August 2020]

Developed over the last year and a half by the AVMA Committee on Antimicrobials and other volunteers - a group of nearly 50 microbiologists, epidemiologists and species experts - the report examines pathogens of concern and outlines actions veterinarians and their teams, producers, breeders and animal owners can take to slow and limit the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance through stewardship. This report will serve as a baseline for continued efforts to identify and monitor bacterial pathogens that show resistance to antimicrobial therapy.

The report includes detailed information on antimicrobial-resistant bacteria affecting dogs and cats, horses, cattle, swine, sheep and goats, chickens and turkeys, and fish and shrimp, and the antimicrobials used for the infections. Each species has an easy-to-reference, host-specific summary detailing pathogens of concern, followed by details about each pathogen and its resistance profile.

"Unfortunately, we know that not all veterinarians have access to diagnostic laboratories and are often unable to quickly identify what pathogen is making their patient sick, which creates a challenge when making therapy decisions," said Dr. Paul Plummer, one of the lead authors of the report. "This report serves as a practical reference guide for veterinarians to use when making stewardship decisions for their patients and makes critical information about antimicrobial resistance universally available. We hope that the expertise of the technical committees that were consulted in the creation of this report helps bring greater understanding of the overall resistance landscape and helps practitioners with antimicrobial stewardship decisions."

Antimicrobial resistance presents a growing challenge for veterinarians and is a global One Health issue. Slowing and limiting the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance requires widespread engagement from across the One Health spectrum, especially among leaders in veterinary medicine, animal owners and public health. Some of the pathogens included in the report also affect human health, reinforcing relationships among the health of animals, humans and the environment.

"Antimicrobials are a finite resource, so understanding patterns of antimicrobial resistance and any potential overlap with human health is critically important when making stewardship decisions," said Dr. Douglas Kratt, AVMA president. "The AVMA is committed to the judicious therapeutic use of antimicrobials, and this report provides our members with another tool to assure good antimicrobial stewardship in their practices."

"On behalf of the AVMA, I express our sincere thanks to all of the subject-matter experts who contributed to this vital report," Dr. Kratt said.

For additional resources and information about the AVMA's policies on antimicrobial use and resistance, please visit the AVMA website at https://www.avma.org/antimicrobial-use-and-resistance-avma-policies.