Adam Florance
While antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major issue worldwide, the Australian pig industry seems to be in a much better place compared to its overseas counterparts.
FIGHTING ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
A
ccording to Dr Darren Trott,
Professor of Veterinary Microbiology at the University of Adelaide, the Australian pig industry is among the best in the world in animal welfare standards, minimising unnecessary antibiotic treatments, and, thanks to a new federal government grant, in monitoring antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Trott has been conducting research into AMR in the pig industry over the last two decades. His latest paper ‘Current and Future Antimicrobial Resistance Issues for the Australian Pig Industry’ is a collaboration with Dr Sam Abraham and Dr Mark O’Dea of Murdoch University and will be presented at the upcoming Australasian Pig Science Association Conference. We asked Trott how he came to be such an ambassador for the Australian pig industry. “The Australian pig industry has long been an early adopter of world’s best practice in a wide range of animal health and welfare issues and is very proactive in minimising the unnecessary use of antibiotics. All farmed animals may need an antibiotic treatment if they get sick with a bacterial infection, as do we humans, but as we now know, antibiotic overuse can lead to huge problems with resistance and it can affect both human and animal health.” The ideal scenario would be availability of effective vaccines for all the major illnesses of farmed animals that require antibiotics. However, the development of vaccines is slow and costly and many do not protect against all strains of disease-causing bacteria.
6 | LAB+LIFE SCIENTIST - Oct/Nov 2017
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