FEARS of an epidemic of deadly 鈥渟uperbugs鈥� have prompted the European
Commission to propose a Europe-wide ban on a drug routinely given to farm
animals. In a shock move last week, the Commission recommended that avoparcin,
an antibiotic, should be taken off the market. The European Union鈥檚 member
states will decide whether to back the proposal this week.
For more than three decades, European farmers have fed avoparcin to livestock
to keep them healthy so that they grow faster. But Denmark and Germany banned
the drug last year, claiming that if resistance to avoparcin developed in the
farmyard, it might spread to bacteria in hospitals. This could make the bacteria
resistant to a related antibiotic called vancomycin, which is the last line of
defence against killers such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus.
Some governments saw the Danish and German bans as a barrier to free trade.
And in endorsing the Danish and German fears, the European Commission has
overridden its own panel of experts: the Scientific Committee on Animal
Nutrition (SCAN), which advised against a ban in July (This Week, 27 July, p
7).
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The Swiss-based multinational Hoffmann-La Roche, which makes avoparcin, is
furious that the Commission has overruled its own scientific advisers. 鈥淲e think
it鈥檚 a very hasty measure,鈥� says Neil Stafford, Roche鈥檚 marketing manager for
Europe. 鈥淎ll the science says avoparcin doesn鈥檛 transfer resistance.鈥�
But the Commission denies it is ignoring science. 鈥淥ur proposal is based on
scientific opinion,鈥� says a spokesman. 鈥淭he committee couldn鈥檛 conclude that
there would not be transmission from animal to human antibiotics.鈥� Some
microbiologists applaud the Commission鈥檚 caution. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great news,鈥�
says Julian Davis of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
The final decision now rests with representatives from the EU鈥檚 member
states. Besides Germany and Denmark, Finland and Sweden are expected to support
the Commission鈥檚 proposal. But other EU members were not revealing their stance
in advance of this week鈥檚 meeting.