3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Speaker: Dr. Xiaoli Fan, University of Alberta, Department of Resource Economics & Environmental Sociology
Title: Cost-effectiveness of mass drug administration and evidence-based antimicrobial use strategies in food animals
Authors: Yunxuan Chen, Xiaoli Fan, Ellen Goddard, and Shady S. Atallah
Abstract: The misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in food animals is a key driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which increasingly threatens our ability to treat infectious diseases in humans and animals. The animal agriculture industries have been relying on administering antimicrobials to animal groups for disease prevention and treatment. However, mass administration of antimicrobials to food animals, especially through the feed/water route for growth promotion purposes, is associated with tremendous externality costs to human society. Evidence-based AMU has been advocated as an important strategy to combat AMR. But the impact of these strategies on AMU reduction and producer profitability has not been quantified, which is the objective of this paper. Our results show that antimicrobial mass medication by injection together with feed leads to the highest profit for the feedlot manager. If mass medication by feed is prohibited by regulations, then antimicrobial mass medication by injection only will be the most profitable AMU strategy. These results ignored the externality cost imposed by antimicrobial mass medication in animals to the human society. When we take into account the externality cost, rapid diagnostic-informed antimicrobial use becomes the strategy with the highest net benefit (i.e., profit – externality cost). Overall, our results suggest that, under appropriate incentives, adopting evidence-based AMU strategies can reduce AMU without sacrificing producer profit. Incentives and research support to improve the sensitivity and specificity of rapid diagnostic technologies and reduce test turnaround time can encourage producer adoption of evidence-based AMU strategies and lead to the more prudent use of antimicrobials in food animals.
Zoom link: https://ualberta-ca.zoom.us/j/91600528405?pwd=clpnYWVRQkZkUzdvYTVrTFFMTDcvZz09
Meeting ID: 916 0052 8405
Passcode: 863400
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