Weekly Update: Rabid bats; New plan for AMR; Sustainable intensive farming?
James Kincheloe

Local

Rabid Bats

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) asked for help last week to find an unidentified woman who dropped off two dead bats at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center in St. Paul for rabies testing and left before her information could be collected. Both bats tested positive for rabies.

The twin cities have seen several cases of rabid bats this year, including some more publicized cases involving bats found in public parks and being handled by good Samaritans.

Bats and skunks are the most common carriers of the virus in the state. Any potential exposure to the virus should be taken seriously. Bat bites can be small and go unnoticed by a person, especially if they occur while sleeping.

Merely finding a bat in a slept in room counts as an exposure to the virus. MDH would like to remind anyone who has concerns about an animal bite or exposure to contact a health provider immediately, and to contact the Board of Animal Health about concerns specific to animals.

Minnesota Department of Health
Minnesota Board of Animal Health

National

FDA Unveils New Plan for Antimicrobial Stewardship

On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the outline of its five-year plan to encourage and support antimicrobial stewardship. At a talk in Washington DC, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb described the plan as having four primary components.

The first component addresses the lack of economic incentives for companies to develop new antibiotics which are meant to be held in reserve and rarely used and thus rarely sold. Gottlieb suggested the agency would develop a subscription system or other payment strategy which would provide financial incentives for drug development that will be linked to stewardship principles.

The second component focuses on use of antibiotics in animals. The remaining 5% of medically important antibiotics which can be bought over the counter will be brought under veterinary control. In addition, duration for usage for all antibiotics used in water and feed will be specified and the sale of antibiotics, usage on farms, and resistance on farms will be better tracked.

The last components will improve resistance surveillance and utilize regulatory science to help support clinical trials and antibiotic development.

Specific details and actions to support the components of the plan will be rolled out in phases over the next five years to allow time for adjustments from feedback and critical analysis.

University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
U.S. Food and Drug Administration

International

Study Suggests Intensive Farming is Environmentally Friendly Compared to Other Systems

A study published on Friday in the journal Nature Conservatory suggests intensive high yield farming may be the most environmentally sustainable means to produce our food.

The authors contend that oftentimes metrics of environmental sustainability measure environmental costs per unit area of land without acknowledging production per unit area. Their study found that when taking production per unit of land into account, intensive agricultural systems were associated with less negative impacts than alternative, extensive systems such as organic farming.

For example, organic farmers used twice as much land and had one third more soil loss to produce the same volume of milk as conventional farming.

The lead author, Professor Andrew Balmford of the University of Cambridge, say they are “certainly not pro conventional agriculture business as usual.” However, the numbers are saying the that farming in any capacity may not support biodiversity and lowering land usage requirements can leave the most land for nature.

BBC News
Nature Sustainability

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James Kincheloe

James Kincheloe

James received his DVM from the University of California, Davis. He has worked as a herd veterinarian for dairy cows and a small animal veterinarian in California. Jim is interested in agricultural and infectious disease policy, and has collaborated on domestic and international projects across the public health spectrum.