Danish disease surveillance has revealed that the levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in meats being imported into the country are higher than in its domestic meat, but that levels in Danish meat are also worryingly high.

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Strict measures have been taken to reduce antibiotics use in farm animal populations in Denmark, and studies have shown that levels of resistant bacteria in farm animals have fallen as a result. However, in September, the surveillance report Danmap, which is compiled by veterinary and University research institutes, revealed that nearly half of the tested samples of chicken meat imported into Denmark in 2011 contained resistant bacteria.

The latest Danmap report showed that, whilst the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the country’s pig population had decreased since tighter restrictions on antibiotics use came into effect, including the banning of cephalosporins, the prevalence of resistant microbes in chickens and poultry meat is still a major cause for concern.

The bacteria identified in poultry were ESBL bacteria, antibiotic resistant microbes, which are “among the most rapidly increasing global resistance problems” according to Danish authorities; the bacteria are resistant to the broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents, cephalosporins, widely used for treating life-threatening infections in humans.

In 2010, ESBL bacteria were present in 10 percent of samples tested, whereas in 2011 they were present in nearly 50 percent of domestic and imported poultry meat samples. Yvonne Agersø, Senior Researcher at the Danish National Food Institute said, “The high occurrence of resistance to cephalosporins in chicken meat is alarming because there is a risk that bacteria are transferred from chicken meat to humans."

Danish government takes concerns to Brussels

Agersø said there is a need for further studies to determine the proportion of human infections with ESBL derived from animals. In response to the findings, the Danish government has called on other EU member-states to ban the use of vital antibiotics in farming; a Danish delegation at last week’s EU Farm Council meeting in Brussels told attendees that a pan-European approach to combating resistance is needed to have a marked effect and avoid a potential health crisis.

Although the Danish delegates said their national approach had been undermined by other EU states’ continued overuse of antimicrobials, Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, praised Danish efforts to combat antibiotic resistance earlier this year.

Speaking during the Danish presidency of the EU, Dr Chan said, “Denmark has tackled the problem of antibiotic use in food-producing animals in a pioneering way. Recognizing the potential for a health crisis, this country progressively ended the administration of antibiotics as growth-promoters in the late 1990s, well before the EU-wide ban. An international review panel, set up by WHO at the request of the Danish government, concluded that the ban reduced human health risks without significantly harming animal health or farmers’ incomes. In fact, Danish government and industry data showed that livestock and poultry production actually increased following the ban, while antibiotic resistance on farms and in meat declined.”

Perturbing results point to need for pan-European approach

In the wake of the Danmap report, Danish surveillance officials said consumption of cephalosporins is thought to be the main reason for the development of ESBL resistance. However, they pointed out that cephalosporins have not been used in the Danish chicken production for the past decade and thus cannot explain the increase in ESBL bacteria in the Danish chicken meat.

They said that resistance in Denmark is therefore likely to have stemmed from the use of cephalosporins on parent animals imported into the country, or have been exacerbated by “an increase in the use of broad-spectrum penicillins in Danish chicken production.”

Dr Agersø said, "As long as ESBL bacteria enter Denmark via imported parent animals, it will be difficult to combat them. We must therefore pursue international solutions and initiatives that can limit the spread and the survival of ESBL bacteria in the herds. Detection of bacteria in chicken meat shows that the bacteria survive the slaughter process."

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