Vibrant and effective public- and animal-health systems depend onpreventing and curing infectious diseases. Antibiotic resistance causes about 23,000 deaths and costs the U.S. economy approximately $70 billion annually. In addition to drug resistance, some bacteria are evolving to freely share their antibiotic-resistance elements with other bacteria. To address this critical issue, scientists in Texas A&M AgriLife Research join others around the world who are seeking to

Expand the knowledge base to address antibiotic resistance

Extend the usefulness of existing antibiotics or replace them witheffective alternatives — without sacrificing human and animal health and food production

Emphasize innovation and the use of new scientific and mathematical tools

Design on-farm studies to determine the success of proposed policies and strategies

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Support groundbreaking researchin antibiotic resistance, preserve the effectiveness of current antibiotics, and find new ways to treat bacterial infections in animals and humans.

SAFEGUARDING HUMAN HEALTH ANDANIMAL AGRICULTURE BY COMBATINGANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

FY 2018 & 2019 Exceptional Item

Requested Amount(Biennial)

$6 million

Objective

ntibiotics have transformed human medicine, veterinary medicine, and animal agriculture over the past 70 years. However, some bacteria have become resistant to these medicines. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics in both humans

and animals are a concern. Agriculture must be a full partner in the U.S. National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

AProgram Description

Internal grants to provide seed money to stimulate research and enhance competition for federal, state, and/or corporate funding, including support for equipment upgrades and operating budgets

Building on our existing capabilities and infrastructure by identifying and recruiting world-class experts in this field

New faculty and staff support

Graduate students/post-docs in research

Translational research and development that will lead to intellectualproperty and commercialization opportunities

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Funds will be Used as Follows

Some ways to reduce antibioticresistance are

Improve understanding of immune function and bacteria-host interaction

Discover genetic and environmental causes of resistance

Encourage rapid development ofnew antibiotics

Prevent overuse/misuse of newantibiotics

Develop new diagnostic tests forhuman and veterinary medicine

Study therapies using phages—viruses that destroy harmful bacteria

Identify alternatives to antibioticsused in agriculture

Reduce antibiotic use through on-farm and production innovations

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What is Texas A&M AgriLife?It’s a family of agencies that brings world-class research, education and service to Texans as a part of the Texas

A&M University System.

For more information, contact:Dr. Craig L. Nessler, Director, (979) 845-8486 | cnessler@tamu.edu

600 John Kimbrough Blvd., Suite 512, 2142 TAMU, College Station TX 77843-2142AgriLifeResearch.tamu.edu

Combating Antibiotic Resistanceombating antibiotic resistance involves understanding the reasons for resistance and exploring ways to overcome it through scientific collaborations across agriculture, engineering, social and behavioral sciences, and public policy, also using “big data,” computational modeling, and analytics.C

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges created the Task Force on Antibiotic Resistance in Production Agriculture, which advises the president’s Task Force for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. Texas A&M’s Antimicrobial Resistance Working Group Forum, held in 2015, brought together over 200 faculty spanning every aspect of antibiotic-resistance research. We will collaborate with other land-grant universities and organizations worldwide to combat antibiotic resistance and preserve decades of advancements in human and animal health.

New rapid diagnostic testsNew computational tools toanalyze genomic samplesCollaboration with pharmaceutical companiesPhage therapy exploredBest practices for reducingantibiotic use in agriculture

Research andDevelopment•••••

Overuse/misuseof antibiotics inanimals and humansMolecular changes in bacteria-host interactionChanging bacterialgeneticsReduced human and animalimmune function

PotentialCauses

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New drugs andvaccines releasedExtended usefulness ofexisting drugsAdditional therapiesdevelopedLives savedHealth care costs reducedAnimal agriculture and food productionpreservedContinued worldwide progress in human andanimal health

SuccessfulOutcomes••

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AntibioticResistance•

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More than 2 million people clinically infected with antibiotic-resistantbacteria annuallyAbout 23,000 deaths$70 billion annual costto U.S. economyIncreasingly resistantand aggressive bacteriaPowerful drugs ineffectiveRollback of advances in human and animal health