Dr Mark Holmes, from Cambridge University, who led the study said: “I'm concerned that insufficient resources are being put into the surveillance of antibiotic resistance in farm animals and retail meat. We don’t know if these levels are rising or falling in the absence of an effective monitoring system.
“These results highlight the need for improvements in antibiotic stewardship in veterinary medicine. While some progress has been made we must not be complacent as it may take many years before we see significant reductions in the numbers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in farms.”
Chairman of the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) alliance, Gwyn Jones, said: "The farming industry must also play its part to control spread of resistance. This is why RUMA announced in May it is setting up an industry task force to look at how meaningful targets can be developed to replace, reduce and refine antibiotic use in UK agriculture. That group is now being formed and a first meeting will be held shortly.”
The British Poultry Council commented that the poultry sector has reduced its use of antibiotics by 44 per cent since 2012, but added that resistance is complex and efforts are continuing to address this. “How best to do this is just one of the incredibly difficult questions we and the scientific community are trying to answer,” the organisation said.
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