Antibiotic not widely used by Asia shrimp farms: FAO

Antibiotic not widely used by Asia shrimp farms: FAO

Vissuta Pothong, Reuters, Bangkok

Farmers in Asia have applied the potent chloramphenicol
antibiotic to their shrimp beds, but use of the drug is not
widespread, a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
official said on Monday.

"We can say that we know that chloramphenicol is used in
farms. Shrimp farmers in Asia have used it," Simon Funge-Smith,
an aquiculture and inland fisheries expert at the FAO's regional
office in Bangkok, told Reuters.

"Chloramphenicol should not be used (to kill diseases in
shrimp farming). However, farmers sometimes use the chemical
without appropriate methods and that is due to lack of knowledge
or information," he said.

Asian countries including Thailand, China, Vietnam, Indonesia,
Malaysia and India are major exporters of shrimps.

Funge-Smith said the use of the drug in shrimp farming in
Asia, typically for export, had been reduced over time.

"In my experience, the use of the antibiotic has been reduced
very much, or is not used, in farms, especially in Thailand,
because there was a lot of awareness raised 7-8 years ago," he
said.

Since then, exporters had urged farmers not to use the
chemical or at least not in the last month before harvesting,
according to Funge-Smith.

European countries scrambled last week to trace animal feed
laced with the antibiotic, which can halt production of human
blood cells.

German officials say contaminated shrimps from Asia may have
found their way into animal feed, sparking new fears about food
safety.

Chloramphenicol is used to treat life-threatening diseases
such as anthrax and typhoid. But it is restricted to such serious
infections because of the risk of it causing a potentially lethal
form of anemia.

"Despite the fact that there are some findings (of shrimps
contaminated with chloramphenicol), we can say that the usage is
not widespread (in Asia), it occurs but does not occur in most
cases," Funge-Smith said.

"We do know that European countries are concerned that some
countries in Asia may still be using the drug...All I can say is
that it is not a common chemical that is used widely."

Importers and buyers would increasingly want to know which
farms their shrimps were coming from, he said.

"What will definitely happen as a result of this is that there
will be a greater scrutiny of shrimp exports by importing
countries."

One way of warding off future problems would be for the
industry to join together in adopting common safety standards.

"In some Asian (producing) countries, the shrimp industry is
either rather small or not at the stage it yet knows about many
of these issues, so there are still chances that bad practice
takes place," he added.

"Governments can assist by providing neutral information about
chemical usage, good farm management as well as export
requirements."