CSU wants DVMs to assess antimicrobial resistance

Fort Collins, Colo.-

Officials at Colorado State University (CSU) just mailed a survey to14,000 private practitioners in small animal, equine and food animal practiceto develop a better understanding of antibiotic uses by veterinarians.

The national survey is the first attempt to accumulate data on empiricaluses of antibiotics ordered by veterinarians.

The goal, according to Dr. Paul Morley, director of biosecurity at CSU,is to accumulate the most comprehensive data to date on veterinarian attitudes,empirical uses and information sources about antimicrobial uses.

"This is in response to general concerns that federal regulatoryagencies have proposed increased limitations on the antimicrobial use inanimals, but in our opinion, there is very little information on use practicesin veterinary medicine," Morley explains. "We would like thosedecisions to be fact-based and science-based in the decision-making ratherthan conjecture."

Tabulation of the survey will allow Morley and others involved with theproject to break the data out by practice types to derive conclusions aboutantibiotic use practices.

The survey was mailed to practitioners in April. Morley hopes participatingveterinarians will return the surveys to CSU in early May; and researcherswould then work to tabulate the results and start disseminating initialresults as early as this fall.

The survey has been funded by CSU and is being conducted in conjunctionwith other projects focused on antimicrobial resistance.