FDA and CDC Issue Separate Warnings For Pet Owners Including Bacteria Resistance

By Aaron Kesel

The FDA has announced that some flea and tick medications can cause adverse reactions in dogs and cats, issuing warnings to pet owners and vets. Meanwhile, the CDC has announced that people are getting sick from pets and the antibiotics are failing to work.

Animals that received drugs in the isoxazoline class, including products sold under the names Bravecto, Nexgard, and Simparica, have experienced adverse events such as muscle tremors, ataxia and seizures, the FDA said.

“Another product in this class, Credelio, recently received FDA approval. These products are approved for the treatment and prevention of flea infestations, and the treatment and control of tick infestations,” the FDA said in a statement.

The FDA says it was also working with manufacturers of isoxazoline products to include new label information to highlight neurologic events.

“The agency is asking the manufacturers to make the changes to the product labeling in order to provide veterinarians and pet owners with the information they need to make treatment decisions for each pet on an individual basis,” the FDA said.

In a separate case, the CDC issued a warning to pet owners that puppies at six pet store companies in 18 states led to infections that sickened more than 100 people.

The cause of the illness was Campylobacter, an infectious disease that causes diarrhea, fever, headaches and abdominal cramps.

According to the CDC, Campylobacter causes an estimated 1.3 million diarrhea illnesses in the United States every year. The majority of Campylobacter cases usually occur due to eating raw or undercooked poultry, or eating something that touched the bacteria.

However, in these cases, officials found a link between the illnesses and pet store puppies. The findings were published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

According to the report, from January 2016 through February 2018, 118 people, including 29 pet store employees, were infected with Campylobacter. Although no deaths happened, 26 people were hospitalized for severe cases.

In total, 105 infected people reported exposure to dogs, including 101 who had been in contact with a pet store puppy.

But the most bizarre part is not that there was an outbreak; the kicker in all this is that a whopping 95% of the puppies received antibiotics to prevent infection through a process called prophylaxis. CBS reports that the method is often cited as a contributing factor to fueling antibiotic resistance. As a result of this, people who were infected with Campylobacter became resistant to the antibiotics during the outbreak.

The CDC stated the investigation was complete but “the risk for multidrug-resistant Campylobacter transmission to employees and consumers continues.”

This comes after a warning in 2013 that bacteria was evolving to become resistant to bacteria.

Over the years antibiotic resistance has continued to rise to dangerous levels and has become somewhat of a growing public health crisis. According to the CDC, at least 2 million Americans become infected with germs resistant to antibiotics each year, and more than 23,000 suffer fatal consequences.

The CDC warned in 2013 that when bacteria is exposed to antibiotics, it starts learning how to outsmart the drugs. This process occurs in bacteria found in humans, animals, and the environment.

“Resistant bacteria can then multiply and spread easily and quickly, causing severe infections,” the CDC wrote. “They can also share genetic information with other bacteria, making the other bacteria resistant as well,” the CDC added. “Each time bacteria learn to outsmart an antibiotic, treatment options are more limited, and these infections pose a greater risk to human health.”

Earlier this year in April the CDC warned there were 221 instances of unusual resistance to “nightmare bacteria” — carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and other dangerous germs in 27 different states.

According to CDC Principal Deputy Director, Dr. Anne Schuchat, infections like that are “virtually untreatable with modern medicine.”

In 2012, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan warned that the overuse of antibiotics was becoming so common she feared we may come to a day where even normal infections could become deadly because bacteria has evolved to be resistant.

It appears that we have come to that day where bacteria like Campylobacter is resistant to antibiotics. Commonly, people usually recover from Campylobacter. However, those with weakened immune systems, certain blood disorders, AIDS, or people receiving chemotherapy, are at risk for the infection to spread to the bloodstream and cause a life-threatening illness.

How many more illnesses are becoming resistant to modern medicine? And how much has modern medicine itself contributed to unknown adverse effects like this flea and tick medicine for dogs and cats?

Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Minds, Steemit, SoMee, BitChute, Facebook and Twitter. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.

Image credit: Pixabay