Diseases evolving to become resistant to antibiotics is a hidden threat to humanity as dangerous as climate change, an animal health expert has told EURACTIV, warning that more must be done to reduce the use of antimicrobials in agriculture.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as among the 10 biggest global threats. Yet despite the danger, the issue is hardly on the public radar, according to Edgar Garcia Manzanilla of Ireland’s agriculture and food development authority, Teagasc.
“Much like climate change [it] is something that is happening, but because you don’t see it immediately happening, it’s very difficult to make people react against it,” said Garcia Manzanilla, coordinating expert of a recent report on the reduction of the use of antibiotics in poultry farming.