One Health and the Politics of Antimicrobial Resistance

by Laura H. Kahn

Overview

Does the use of low-dose antibiotics in livestock put human health at risk?

Zoonoses—infectious diseases, such as SARS and mad cow, that originate in animals and spread to humans—reveal how intimately animal and human health are linked. Complicating this relationship further, when livestock are given antibiotics to increase growth, it can lead to resistant bacteria. Unfortunately, there are few formal channels for practitioners of human medicine and veterinary medicine to communicate about threats to public health. To address this problem, Dr. Laura H. Kahn and her colleagues are promoting the One Health concept, which seeks to increase communication and collaboration between professionals in human, animal, and environmental health.

In One Health and the Politics of Antimicrobial Resistance, Dr. Kahn investigates the use of antibiotics and the surge in antimicrobial resistance in food animals and humans from a One Health perspective. Although the medical community has blamed the problem on agricultural practices, the agricultural community insists that antibiotic resistance is the result of indiscriminate use of antibiotics in human medicine. Dr. Kahn argues that this blame game has fueled the politics of antibiotic resistance and hindered the development of effective policies to address the worsening crisis.

Combining painstaking research with unprecedented access to international data, the book analyzes the surprising outcomes of differing policy approaches to antibiotic resistance around the globe. By integrating the perspectives of both medicine and agriculture and exploring the history and science behind the widespread use of growth-promoting antibiotics, One Health and the Politics of Antimicrobial Resistance examines the controversy in a unique way while offering policy recommendations that all sides can accept.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421420042
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2016
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Laura H. Kahn (BETHESDA, MD), MD, MPH, MPP, is a physician, educator, and author. She is a cofounder of the One Health Initiative and the author of Who's in Charge? Leadership during Epidemics, Bioterror Attacks, and Other Public Health Crises and One Health and the Politics of Antimicrobial Resistance.

Table of Contents

1 The Politics 1

2 A Brief History of Meat Production and Antibiotics 10

3 The British Experience 17

4 Lessons from Sweden 26

5 Lessons from Denmark 33

6 The European Experience 41

7 The Controversy in the United States 50

8 International Challenges 68

9 Environmental and Pharmaceutical Discoveries and Challenges 79

10 Conclusion 93

Acknowledgments 109

Appendix A 113

Appendix B 125

Appendix C 130

Notes 133

Index 185

What People are Saying About This

Peter M. Rabinowitz

An incredibly timely and original book by a skilled writer at the forefront of the One Health movement. Dr. Kahn makes the interrelationships between animal health, human health, and agriculture come alive.

From the Publisher

An incredibly timely and original book by a skilled writer at the forefront of the One Health movement. Dr. Kahn makes the interrelationships between animal health, human health, and agriculture come alive.
—Peter M. Rabinowitz, MD, MPH, Center for One Health Research, coauthor of Human-Animal Medicine: Clinical Approaches to Zoonoses, Toxicants, and Other Shared Health Risks

Editorial Reviews

Some of her impartial findings will surprise readers and completely recolor the current conversation on antimicrobial resistance. Give a copy of this book to your legislators today.
—Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

The author demonstrates her command of both the politics and the science of establishing medication guidelines throughout the book and approaches the subject with professional objectivity.
—Emerging Infectious Diseases

As a veterinarian who follows all policies on antimicrobial resistance closely, I greatly enjoyed reading this book as it provided a holistic, multidisciplinary and well-analysed perspective on the different policies followed and their consequences. For those involved in policies and research around antimicrobial resistance this book will be a must-read. Furthermore, I recommend it to all libraries of medicine, veterinary science and public health schools and research centres all over the world.
—Veterinary Record

Laura H Kahn has assembled a timely, detailed and unbiased compendium of history, facts and statistics about the use and abuse of antibiotics in animals and humans and the evolution of antimicrobial resistance.
—International Journal of Epidemiology

From the Publisher

The author demonstrates her command of both the politics and the science of establishing medication guidelines throughout the book and approaches the subject with professional objectivity.

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Some of her impartial findings will surprise readers and completely recolor the current conversation on antimicrobial resistance. Give a copy of this book to your legislators today.

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

Some of her impartial findings will surprise readers and completely recolor the current conversation on antimicrobial resistance. Give a copy of this book to your legislators today.

JAVMAD

As a veterinarian who follows all policies on antimicrobial resistance closely, I greatly enjoyed reading this book as it provided a holistic, multidisciplinary and well-analysed perspective on the different policies followed and their consequences. For those involved in policies and research around antimicrobial resistance this book will be a must-read. Furthermore, I recommend it to all libraries of medicine, veterinary science and public health schools and research centres all over the world.

Veterinary Record

Laura H Kahn has assembled a timely, detailed and unbiased compendium of history, facts and statistics about the use and abuse of antibiotics in animals and humans and the evolution of antimicrobial resistance.

International Journal of Epidemiology