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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has received a request from the European Commission to update its advice on the use in animals of colistin, which is one of the last-resort antibiotics to treat certain bacterial infections in humans. This follows the recent discovery of a gene (called mcr-1) that causes bacteria to become resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of the polymyxin class that can easily be transferred between different types of bacteria. The gene was first detected in bacteria (called Enterobacteriaceae) that were isolated from pigs, pork and chicken products and from a small number of humans in South China. Since the gene was first detected it has subsequently been found also in the European Union (EU).
Because of its important role as a last defence against antimicrobial resistant bacteria, the Agency will consider if its 2013 advice on the responsible use of colistin in animals, particularly pigs, needs to be updated in light of the recent discovery.
The 2013 advice recommended maintaining the use of colistin in veterinary medicine but only for the treatment of infected animals and those in contact with them, and removing all indications for preventive (or prophylactic) use, in line with the principles of responsible use. It also recommended strengthening the systems for surveillance of antimicrobial resistance to colistin and carrying out a new review in case of a substantial increase of colistin resistance in animal bacteria or other new relevant information with a potential impact for public health.
The Antimicrobial Advice Ad Hoc Expert Group (AMEG) will evaluate all available information and assess whether in the light of new evidence there is any impact on the 2013 advice for the use of colistin in animals within the EU. The Agency expects to finalise the update over the next six months.
Monday January 11, 2016/ EMA/ European Union.
http://www.ema.europa.eu/
