BACKGROUND: The Idaho One Health Consortium (ID-OHC) is a quarterly forum for subject matter experts in human, veterinary, wildlife, and environmental health to discuss topics that affect multiple disciplines; additional professionals are invited to participate, depending upon the topic. The goal of the ID-OHC is to increase subject-specific awareness, identify partnerships, and develop best practices, guidelines, and other products to address challenges that cross disciplines and are impacting Idaho. The 2014 National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria (CARB) outlines the global public health threat associated with the diminishing availability of effective antibiotic agents for human and veterinary medicine and presents five overarching goals for action to reduce that threat. Idaho is leveraging the ID-OHC to address the first national CARB goal of “slowing the emergence of resistant bacteria and preventing the spread of resistant infections” as it relates to food animals and food safety.
METHODS: The ID-OHC convened twice in 2016 to discuss the CARB strategy. The May meeting included an overview of practices being adopted by agriculture and human health disciplines including: antibiotic stewardship and healthcare surveillance to reduce healthcare-associated infections; testing for antimicrobial residues in soil, waste-water, and sewage; and updates to the FDA rules regulating dispensing of medically important over-the-counter (OTC) antibiotics used in feed and water for food animals. The December meeting expanded on FDA’s dispensing changes effective 1/1/2017 and the impact on antibiotics entering the food supply; certain OTC antibiotics would now require a veterinary-client-patient-relationship and either a Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) for medicated feed or a prescription for medicated water. Because FDA dispensing changes represented significant alterations to food animal management practices including medicated feed milling and distribution, husbandry, Boards of Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine oversight, and changes to veterinary practice, this meeting emphasized the urgency of collaboration to educate those affected by the changes.
RESULTS: Collaborations forged through the ID-OHC activities culminated in the production of two CARB strategy resources: a jointly-produced educational newsletter for Idaho veterinarians and a resource webpage on the VFD and other FDA dispensing changes for those in food animal production and veterinary medicine.
CONCLUSIONS: The established ID-OHC provides a forum to bring professional partners together to develop Idaho-specific strategies and take coordinated actions across disciplines. The FDA dispensing changes, including the updated VFD, provided an opportunity to utilize the new model, which was done successfully, building relationships in-state, and creating collaborations to protect animal, human, and environmental health.