A study by the UK Royal Veterinary College, in collaboration with the West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (WBUAFS), says poultry breeding companies are unable to prevent chicks from being infected with bacteria. This is forcing producers to turn to antibiotics at an early stage, particularly in West Bengal and the eastern parts of the country.
But poultry industry officials refute this. However, they argue that this is not causing any harm to human health and the issue is being “demonised”.
A senior scientist of an ICAR body, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said antibiotics are essential for treating bacterial diseases in animals, including poultry, similar to their use in humans.
“Previously, low levels of antibiotics were used for growth promotion in poultry by modulating intestinal bacteria to help the birds gain weight. However, this practice has been banned in India and is not widely used anymore,” the scientist said.
Currently, antibiotics are mainly used for disease treatment and prevention in animals, including poultry and large animals.
“Veterinary doctors prescribe antibiotics based on their professional knowledge and the specific needs of the animals. Alternatives like herbal products, probiotics, and prebiotics are increasingly used as growth promoters,” he said.
Residue levels
There’s scrutiny of residue levels in meat, especially for export purposes, which discourages excessive antibiotic use.
Considering the global concerns around the indiscriminate use of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance, the Union Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying recently issued a detailed 400-page compendium of “Standard Veterinary Treatment Guidelines (SVTG) for Livestock and Poultry”.
“This is a critical step toward addressing the growing global concern of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which poses risks to both animal and human health. The consistent application of SVTGs will ensure that antibiotics are used prudently, minimising the risks of overuse and misuse and contributing to food safety in animal-source foods (ASFs),” the compedium said.
This document, prepared with the assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and with inputs from over 80 experts, dedicated 30 pages exclusively for the poultry sector, discussing various diseases, and vaccines and drugs to tackle the issues.
‘Within the limits’
Suresh Chitturi, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Srinivasa Farms, expressed concern about the demonisation of antibiotics, emphasising that they are very useful in tackling certain diseases. He argued that the focus should be on the judicious use of antibiotics and not on throwing the blame on farmers.
He said antibiotics should be traced from the manufacturing stage and criticised the blaming of farmers. Stating that the UK controlled by tracking veterinarian recommendations for antibiotic use, he said the US uses more antibiotics per capita significantly than India. However, the Indian poultry industry is unfairly defamed.
K Anand of Venkateshwara Hatcheries said since the bulk of the poultry is in the organised sector, the use of antibiotics is well within the prescribed norms.
Broilers, which have a short life of about 36-37 days, generally do not require antibiotics because companies ensure immunity through feed and maintain biosecurity. However, layer birds, kept for laying eggs for 72-88 weeks, may require antibiotics on some occasions.
“The industry generally uses vaccines to sort out the issues, if any, during the lifecycle of 72 weeks. If they are not able to handle it with vaccines, they call local doctors and use the prescribed antibiotics,” he said.
“There is a withdrawal period of 15 to 21 days for any antibiotic used, ensuring residue reduction before the products go to market. Government surveys have found that residue levels are much less than the prescribed limits, even in Europe,” he said.
The primary concern is that antibiotic use in poultry could lead to resistance in humans if residues are present. The government is concerned about the potential for antibiotic resistance in humans due to the use of antibiotics in poultry.
“There is a need for more government regulations and increased caution from doctors in using antibiotics,” he said.
A source in the poultry industry, however, said that some black sheep may be using antibiotics triggering the concern.
He said most of the players choose not to use antibiotics, considering the huge costs involved. “It will increase the cost of production, which could erode their margins that are already wafer-thin,” he said.
“Nobody is using antibiotics in the poultry sector on a random basis, as it is perceived to be,” said Sushanth Rai Bellipady, former president of Karnataka State Poultry Farmers Breeders Association and Managing Partner of Mangaluru-based Raison Nutrition. “It is being used rationally as it entails a cost,” Rai, also a member of the Veterinary Council of India, said.
A Tamil Nadu poultry industry source said the anti-biotics are costly, and hardly 2-3 per cent of the farms in the State use it. “Any use if for not more than three days. Don’t people inject cattle for milk?” the source wondered.
Health issues
TP Sethumadhavan, former Director of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, said rampant use of antibiotics creates a lot of health care issues and research institutions need to conduct stakeholder-based studies to find out its usage. There are reports of antibiotic usage in poultry in Kerala, but stakeholders involved in this sector are not bothered about the forthcoming healthcare issues.
He said the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in broiler chickens poses a problem. Since broiler chickens will be reared for 6-7 weeks, in some of the cases, a sufficient withdrawal period cannot be enforced due to a paucity of time. The poultry industry, farmers and entrepreneurs are not interested in addressing these and studies in this regard are also uncommon, he said, adding that poultry farming requires precision farming practices to regulate the use of antibiotics.
(With inputs from Vishwanath Kulkarni, Bengaluru, and Subramani Ra Mancombu, Chennai)
