A warning has been issued by an expert from the University of the Philippines College of Fisheries (UPCF) against the continued sale and use of Baytril.
This is an antibiotic that had supposedly been banned by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States (US FDA) in September 2005.
Aquaculturist Virgilio Marzo averred that Bayer Corp. continues to sell Baytril, the brand name for the antibiotic Enrofloxacin, a type of fluoroquinolone.
The expert argued that “US FDA withdrew the approval of Baytril for use in water to treat flocks of poultry as the practice was noted to promote the evolution of fluoroquinolone-resistant strains of the bacterium Campylobacter,” a human pathogen.
Marzo claimed Bayer continue to sell and recommend the said product to poultry breeders even if they knew that they are already banned in the US.
He said the quinolone antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin are no longer effective against Campylobacteriosis, a gastrointestinal infection caused by Campylobacter.
Marzo stressed that “Bayer’s deception must end and veterinarians as well as the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) should act immediately to stop the sale of the banned antibiotic.
Also, Dr. Waren Baticado of the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) has batted for the application of clinical genomics of priority livestock diseases that will enhance the country’s competitiveness in the face of the economic integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean.)
In a paper entitled “Agricultural Competitiveness through Clinical Genomics of Priority Diseases” published by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) this year, Baticado argued that “globalization has helped usher in a livestock revolution resulting in a large increase in global trade in livestock products and a greater possibility, but also higher risk, of introduction and transmission of animal pathogens.”