TANUVAS taking steps to check extensive use of antibiotics - THE HINDU

“The Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) is taking all steps to check extensive use of antibiotics that result in antimicrobial resistance to facilitate better livestock exports,” Vice-Chancellor of the university R. Prabakaran told The Hindu .
He was here recently to chair the World Veterinary Day celebration organised by TANUVAS and the Veterinary College and Research Institute (VC&RI), Namakkal.
The Vice-Chancellor said that the celebration's theme for this year was ‘Antimicrobial Resistance' and added that both under dose and over dose would result in antimicrobial resistance.
On steps to monitor extensive use of such medicines, he said that the varsity would soon establish two state-of-the-art facilities at an estimate Rs. 9.86 crore.
“They are funded by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and machineries will be installed in a month or two,” the Dr. Prabakaran said. Some of the tests that can be carried out in these labs include checking residues such as pesticides, antibiotics and faecal residues.
“It would even make it possible to identify if the chicken or cattle has been fed with genetically modified crop varieties and presence of mycotoxins,” he said.The labs will grade livestock products based on presence of residue. “Each country has a minimum and maximum permissible level for importing livestock products and this grading will help exporters to reduce presence of residues or to focus on countries that fit into their based on the results”, Dr. Prabakaran observed.
“These labs will also be a boon for domestic consumers as the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 requires livestock products to have its quality and presence of microbial residues printed on them – in India”, the VC said.
“A proposal of TANUVAS to set up a facility exclusively for surveillance of emerging and remerging poultry diseases at Rs. two crore has been sanctioned by the state government at the principle level and is awaiting sanction of funds from the union government”, he said.
About reducing residues in the feed, he urged poultry farmers to use antibiotics only when it is inevitably required. “Use them only under supervision of veterinarians as dosage should not be decided by the farmer, while antibiotics should be withdrawn from broiler chicken a week before marketing it”, he concluded.