Research Finds Antibiotic Residues in Poultry Meat

Recently, the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi, found the large scale use of antibiotics in poultry was making Indians resistant to medication given to cure common ailments and infections. The agency investigated 70 chicken samples and examined liver, muscle and kidney tissues to note if they contained any of the six most common antibiotic drugs.

Nearly 40 percent of the samples had traces of antibiotics and more than 17 percent tested positive for multiple antibiotics residue. Medications like oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, doxycycline, enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin are fed to chickens to enhance growth and prevent them from dying from infections. Researchers found giving these drugs even in small doses  makes chicken gradually develop antibiotic-resistant bacteria that gets transferred to humans.

They looked at data of 13 past researches and studies conducted between 2002 and 2013 and noted over the years, highest resistance was developed against ciprofloxacin, doxycycline and tetracyclines in humans. These were linked to widespread use of medications in poultry.

"Public health experts have long suspected that such rampant use of antibiotics in animals could be a reason for increasing antibiotic resistance in India. But the government has no data on the use of antibiotics in the country, let alone on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance. Our study proves the rampant use and also shows that this can be strongly linked to growing antibiotic resistance in humans in India," said Chandra Bhushan, CSE's deputy director general in a news release.

In the U.S. 80 percent of all antibiotics are for use in livestock and poultry. The 2013 reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found almost half of the medications prescribed to humans and given to poultry are unnecessary and inappropriate.

These findings highlight concerns related to treatment of deadly conditions like sepsis, pneumonia and tuberculosis. Between the years 2011 and 2013, incidence of multiple-drug resistance tuberculosis in India surged more than five times.  Alarmed by the reports, CSE has urged the government to impose a ban on the use of antibiotics in poultry farming and also restrict sale of unlicensed and unlabeled drugs in market.

"India will have to adopt a comprehensive approach to tackle this problem. The biggest problem is the emergence of resistant bacteria in animals and its transmission through food and environment. Till the time we keep misusing antibiotics in animals, we will not be able to solve the problem of antibiotic resistance," added Bhushan.