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Books and Media
Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria of Animal Origin
Frank M. Aarestrup, editor
ASM Press, Washington DC, 2006
ISBN: 9781555813062
Pages: 442; Price US $115.95
Suggested citation for this
article
Resistance to
antimicrobial agents develops soon after these life-saving drugs are introduced
into human and animal medicine. The role of veterinary and animal use of
antimicrobial agents has been debated for years. Frank Aarestrup and colleagues
attempt to summarize information concerning this topic in their new book,
Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria of Animal Origin. This book has 51
contributors, who have written 25 chapters on the public health, clinical, and
regulatory importance of antimicrobial drug resistance in bacteria of animal
origin. The editor recognizes the complexity of this subject and makes no
claims to cover all the issues but rather highlights what he and the
contributors believe to be the most important topics.
The first 6
chapters highlight modes of action and resistance, history of usage,
susceptibility testing, antimicrobial-drug resistance for antimicrobial agents, detection methods, dosing
schedules, and mechanisms that lead to the spread of bacterial resistance.
These chapters provide the reader with very detailed molecular and genetic
information on resistance mechanisms in bacteria of animal origin. Knowing the
pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of antimicrobial agents is essential for
these drugs to be used correctly, and a good overview of these mechanisms is
also provided in these beginning chapters. The book also stresses the urgent
need for establishing veterinary-validated breakpoints for species-specific
host-pathogen combinations that are clinically relevant. Some of the
tables and diagrams in these chapters contain a large amount of material and
need to be read carefully to understand the total wealth of information.
The 12 middle
chapters provide an in-depth review of the known resistance mechanisms found in
most of the pathogenic bacteria and bacteria of public health importance in
animals. Each chapter takes a closer look at a particular family, genus, or
species of bacteria and, when possible, attempts to estimate the prevalence of
resistance to key antimicrobial agents. The information provided in these
chapters is useful to clinicians, researchers, public health officials, and
regulators. For some zoonotic agents, the animal health consequences of
resistance are not known. For future editions, expanding on this topic would be
helpful.
The last 7
chapters attempt to tie all of the previous information together by providing an
overview of the licensing and approval procedures for veterinary antimicrobial
agents, surveillance systems that monitor resistance and usage, and the use of
risk assessments to guide industry and government in decision making. These
chapters take a global approach. When possible, side-by-side comparisons of
resistance data or surveillance systems are discussed.
This book is the
first of its kind to provide a comprehensive overview of resistance mechanism
in bacteria of animal origin rather than concentrating solely on zoonotic or
foodborne bacteria. All uses of antimicrobial agents contribute to resistance,
and each use must be examined in an attempt to understand its part in
encouraging further dissemination of resistance in bacteria, including bacteria
of animal origin. This book will serve as a valuable reference for persons who
treat, research, or monitor resistance in bacteria of animal origin.
Stacy Holzbauer* and Tom
Chiller*
*Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Suggested citation
for this article:
Holzbauer S, Chiller T. Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria of animal
origin [books and media]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2006 Jul [date
cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no07/06-0503.htm
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