Human and animal medicine

Human and animal medicine

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Human and animal medicine have relied on antibiotics to treat infection for decades. Now, both health communities are working to confront resistance.

The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) brings professionals from both sides together to find solutions to the complex issue. In this report from NIAA and Merck Animal Health, we learn more from Dr. Mike Apley, a leading voice on the matter. Antibiotic resistance in hospitals and veterinary settings has groups of researchers, producers, veterinarians and human doctors striving for an answer, but this is not a one-sided issue. Dr. Mike Apley with Kansas State University is a veterinarian with 30 years of experience, who also serves on the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria — otherwise known as the PACCARB. "We have microbiologists, infectious disease specialists, pharmacologists, epidemiologists from both sides that work together, and we realize a lot of very common threads."

 

To combat antibiotic resistance, Apley says it comes down to the relationship between the prescriber and the patient. Every day, doctors and veterinarians must strike a balance between alleviating individual suffering while preserving the effectiveness of antibiotics for communities.

It's a difficult task and part of the advisory council's National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. The current plan issued in 2015 runs through 2020. Apley says establishing new antibiotics for the veterinary market costs up to 400 million dollars and about two billion dollars for human health

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