ABSTRACT

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of today’s greatest public health threats and reducing antimicrobial use in livestock is essential to prevent its spread, requiring rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to ensure that the drug prescribed matches the sensitivity of the disease organism. However, despite decades of research on RDTs and a relatively permissive regulatory environment in the UK, few devices are in commercial use. Challenges discussed by RDT developers included identifying commercially-viable targets, and management of the innovation ecosystem, e.g. to create clear pathways to market supporting positive interactions between farmers, vets, and other actors along the value chain. Future support for RDT development could be provided through incorporation in: assured food systems; business service packages provided by centralised laboratories; or animal health monitoring packages related to the spread of AMR. Breeding stock sales could require an accompanying health package including RDTs, vaccines and/or antibiotics, linking to precision agriculture approaches. Unlike the example of RDT development for COVID-19, it seems that the urgency of the issue and the clarity of links between animal and human health outcomes are not yet sufficient to support a fast-tracking programme for the development of RDTs to combat AMR.

摘要

抗菌素耐药性 (AMR) 是当今最大的公共卫生威胁之一，减少家畜中抗菌素的使用对于防止其传播至关重要，因此需要快速诊断测试 (RDT) 以确保所开药物与疾病生物体的敏感性相匹配。然而，尽管对 RDT 进行了数十年的研究，并且英国的监管环境相对宽松，但很少有设备用于商业用途。RDT 开发人员讨论的挑战包括确定商业上可行的目标和创新生态系统的管理，例如创建清晰的市场途径，支持农民、兽医和价值链上其他参与者之间的积极互动。未来对 RDT 发展的支持可以通过纳入： 有保障的粮食系统；集中实验室提供的业务服务包；或与 AMR 传播有关的动物健康监测包。种畜销售可能需要随附的健康包，包括 RDT、疫苗和/或抗生素，与精准农业方法相关联。与 COVID-19 的 RDT 开发示例不同，该问题的紧迫性以及动物和人类健康结果之间联系的明确性似乎还不足以支持开发 RDT 以对抗 AMR 的快速跟踪计划。