UK Soil Association Calls for Action on Antibiotic-Resistant E. Coli

The UK Soil Association has reportedly urged veterinarians to limit their penicillin use after health officials found that cows from one unidentified English farm are carriers of extended-spectrum betalactamase (ESBL) E. coli, a rare antibiotic-resistant strain of the disease. Although the organic watchdog noted that the government has asked the farmer and his family to follow strict hygiene procedures, regulators have not placed any restrictions on the movement or sale of the infected herd. “The government often calls on doctors to prescribe antibiotics less often. But similar advice needs to be given to veterinary surgeons and farms,” stated a policy advisor for the Soil Association, which, as of 2009, will also no longer certify organic farms that treat their livestock with a class of antibiotics known as cephalosporins. See FoodProductionDaily.com, November 19, 2008.