Nearly all chicken, turkey is infected with lethal bacterium

chicken and campylobacter 

october 21, 1997

agriculture today no. 1997
written by rob sivak
edited by smart
washington
edited for electronic media by Jai Maharaj jai@mantra.com

introduction
     a new survey conducted by government health officials in
     the united states shows that a potentially dangerous 
     food-borne bacterium known as campylobacter (pron: 
     kam-pul-oh bak-ter) can be found on nearly all u-s 
     poultry. and medical authorities are expressing alarm 
     that this bacterium is becoming resistant to a key 
     anti-microbial drug. as voa's rob sivak reports, that's 
     posing a new challenge to public health safety of 
     america's food supply:

text
     most consumers in the united states know that uncooked 
     meat and poultry can harbor harmful bacteria that sicken
     as many as 30 million americans and kill another nine 
     thousand every year.  most people have also heard of the
     salmonella and e. coli food poisoning bacteria. but 
     relatively few are aware of the potentially lethal 
     bacterium called campylobacter, a microbe that normally 
     lives in the gut of poultry. as with other food-borne 
     pathogens, people become infected by eating undercooked 
     chicken or turkey, or by contaminating other foods or 
     kitchen equipment with the raw poultry juices.

     public health officials say campylobacter is now the 
     leading cause of diarrhea in the united states. it 
     infects between two and eight million americans each 
     year, and kills an estimated eight hundred.

     now, a new survey by health officials in the midwestern 
     state of minnesota indicates the risk of infection in 
     the united states appears to be rising. the survey found
     that between 70 and 90 percent of the chickens and 
     turkeys reaching minnesota supermarkets were 
     contaminated with the campylobacter microbe. that's 
     twice the infection rate reported just six years ago. 
     but medical experts say the most troubling finding in 
     the survey is that between 20 and 50 percent of the 
     campylobacter bacteria discovered on the chickens and 
     turkeys was a new strain resistant to fluoroquinolones. 
     that's the antibiotic which poultry farmers around the 
     world have used for nearly a decade to control various 
     diseases in their poultry flocks.

     fluoroquinolone has also been the drug of choice for 
     treating humans infected by campylobacter. doctor 
     michael osterholm, an epidemiologist with the minnesota 
     health department, says the u-s food and drug 
     administration made a big mistake in 1995 when it 
     decided to allow u-s poultry producers to use 
     fluoroquinolone on their flocks. 

tape  cut one -- osterholm  :30

     "and since that time, we have seen a dramatic increase 
     in the frequency with which these chickens have 
     developed campylobacter strains that are resistant to 
     fluoroquinolones. now that translates to us as humans, 
     because we have a problem when we ingest this bacteria 
     and get sick with it, we can't use the drug as 
     effectively as we once did  to treat it. and since 
     campylobacter can be a life threatening infection, 
     particularly for the young, the elderly and the 
     immuno-compromised, this is a serious, serious public 
     health issue in terms of losing this important drug."

text
     concerns about the drug resistant campylobacter strain 
     are not limited to the united states. an international 
     group of  more than 70 medical and veterinary experts 
     examined the issue recently at a world health 
     organization conference in berlin, germany. at the 
     meeting's conclusion october 17th, the health experts 
     expressed deep concern about the worldwide increase in 
     drug-resistant bacteria, and suggested that tighter 
     curbs on veterinary use of antibiotics might be needed 
     to address the public health problem.

     but doctor bill roenigk, a poultry health expert with 
     the washington-based national broiler council, says 
     withdrawing antibiotics from animal agriculture could be
     financially ruinous for an industry without ready 
     alternatives for protecting animal health. and dr. 
     roenigk says it is premature to blame livestock 
     producers for the problem:

tape  cut two -- roenigk

     "i would ask the question, before we take these products
     away from animal agriculture, can we please identify 
     that this is the cause or one of the causes for the rise
     in the antibiotic resistant bacteria?  there are other 
     possible explanations. the use or even the over-use of 
     antibiotics in human medicine may be giving rise to this
     problem and it may be that the linkage to animal 
     agriculture is nonexistent or at best very weak. so 
     until we identify the source of what is causing these 
     resistant bacteria, i think it is a bit premature to 
     say, 'okay, we are going to take these products away 
     from animal agriculture because we think you are the 
     problem.' we think in fairness, science should be the 
     guide here."

text
     that is the position, as well, of the u-s food and drug 
     administration.  f-d-a officials would not comment on 
     public calls for the agency to withdraw its approval of 
     the use on fluoroquinolone on poultry. they also would 
     not comment on the recent petition by the drug's 
     manufacturer, bayer pharmaceuticals, that the f-d-a 
     permit broader veterinary use of the drug. but an f-d-a 
     spokeswoman says the agency is reviewing the new data on
     campylobacter from the minnesota survey and other 
     medical studies, and will make its findings public soon.

osterholm act from nbc-tv
(signed) neb/rms/nes

21-oct-97 5:09 pm edt (2109 utc)  nnnn  report 7-17513
source - voice of america

Jai Maharaj
http://www.flex.com/~jai
Om Shanti

Copyright (C) 1997 Mantra Corporation. All Rights Reserved.