When To Medicate
BY LAURELLA DESBOROUGH
Copyright Laurella Desbrough (eclectusbreeder.com).
All rights reserved by the author.
We who keep and breed birds are
familiar with the names of various
bacteria: E. coli, Enterobacter,
Pseudomonas and mycobaterium
tuberculosis, to name a few.
Generally, when we take a sick bird
to our veterinarian, who determines
through swabs and cultures that the
sickness is caused by a specific
bacteria, we then treat the bird. We
use the most effective drug as
determined by sensitivity tests
conducted by the veterinary hospital
staff or a local laboratory. After
following the instructions for
administering the drugs, we expect
our bird to recover from the
bacterial infection. Most of the
time, this is the result.
However, there are warning signs
that this may not continue to be the
case. We may arrive at a situation
where the appropriate drug does not
eradicate the bacteria because the
bacteria have become resistant to
the drug. The fear of this happening
is very real, since this situation
has already occurred with
Staphylococcus aureus infections in
humans.
The March, 1998 issue of Scientific
American includes an article
entitled "The Challenge of
Antibiotic Resistance" by scientific
writer, Stuart B. Levy. This article
defines the problem, describes the
history of its development and
suggests some immediate actions
which should be taken to reverse the
development of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria. Unless action is taken to
solve this problem, we humans, and
our birds, face the possibility of
dealing with untreatable bacteria
which can then become killers. This
issue has already been a topic of
concern within the veterinary
community. How did this come to
pass? What can you and I do about
it?
During World War II, antibiotics
became available and since then have
been used routinely to wipe out
disease-causing bacteria in humans
and animals. All bacteria are not
pathogenic or dangerous; many kinds
of harmless bacteria live in the
environment around us, and also live
on our skin and inside our
intestinal tracts. They also live in
our birds' environments and inside
their intestinal tracts. These
harmless bacteria are actually
helpful because they compete with
the pathogenic bacteria and thus
limit their ability to completely
colonize the gut tract. Using
antibiotics can have a negative
effect on the balance of good and
bad bacteria in our birds' digestive
tracts. Using antibiotics
incorrectly or when they aren't
actually needed can have long-term
negative consequences in the treated
bird and negative consequences for
the future effective use of that
antibiotic.
Apparently, two factors influence
whether or not bacteria will become
insensitive to an antibiotic: the
prevalence of resistance genes in
the bacteria and the extent of
antibiotic use. If some of the
bacteria have resistance genes and a
drug is used repeatedly, those
bacteria will not die and will
eventually multiply. According to
science writer Levy, "When an
antibiotic attacks a group of
bacteria, cells that are highly
susceptible to the medicine will
die. But cells that have some
resistance from the start, or that
acquire it later (through mutation
or gene exchange), may survive,
especially if too little drug is
given to overwhelm the cells that
are present....the most resistant
cells in a group will inevitably
outcompete all others."
Bird breeders prevail upon their
veterinarians to prescribe
antibiotics to cure a variety of
non-life-threatening conditions.
Unnecessary and incorrect usage of
drugs leading to resistant strains
include situations where bird
breeders routinely treat young birds
with low dosages of medicine in the
formula as a preventive measure.
With a sick bird, owners may not
follow the full course of
recommended treatment with an
antibiotic or may not administer it
correctly. Improper dosages and
incorrect administration will not
eliminate disease agents, but they
will encourage the growth of
resistant strains of bacteria.
Some breeders stockpile drugs for
later use; and when a young bird
looks somewhat peaked, they give it
antibiotics for a few days without
proper diagnosis of the problem and
without knowing whether or not the
"sickness" will respond to the drug
in question. These practices create
resistant strains of bacteria, thus
reducing the efficacy of
antibiotics.
There are ways we can work to reduce
the multiplication of resistant
strains of bacteria. First and
foremost is to follow good husbandry
practices with our breeding birds
and the baby birds in the nursery;
this prevents disease occurence and
transmission. Routine, thorough
cleaning of aviaries and equipment,
from food bowls to brooders, is
basic to healthy flocks. Careful
storage, washing and preparation of
fresh produce is essential to remove
antibiotic spray residues and
bacterial contamination introduced
by either field workers or the
environment. Correct storage and
handling of hand-feeding formulas
prevents bacterial contamination.
Determining sensitivity of bacteria
prior to administering antibiotics
to eliminate the bacteria makes good
sense.
Following the rules of administering
the dosages is critical to wiping
out a specific bacteria:
Administering the correct amount,
administering it according to the
specific daily schedule indicated
and administering it for the number
of days is required. Do not hoard
antibiotics for future use. Do not
routinely use antibacterial soaps
and other products: use them only
when protecting sick birds or baby
birds whose immune system defenses
may be weakened. For a better
understanding of this issue, it is
recommended that the readers review
the article in Scientific American.
