Anpario granted patent for product on its ability to reduce antimicrobial resistance in calves
That product was developed to manage intestinal health in livestock and aquaculture, to support optimum gut integrity and performance.
The patent grant, GB2585132B, follows a research program undertaken by a team based at the University of Reading in the UK, whereby Dr Partha Ray and Dr Caroline Rymer conducted a trial to determine the effect of supplementing Orego-Stim, which contains 100% oregano oil, in waste milk fed to dairy calves, on the population of AMR bacteria in their feces, explained the company.
The milk from dairy cows that have been treated with antibiotics for mastitis cannot be sold for human consumption and is usually fed to pre-weaned calves on the farm. This practice is known to be a risk for transfer of AMR to the calves and is a concern for global calf production and human health (EFSA, 2017).
The research demonstrated that the proportion of E. coli bacteria resistant to a fourth-generation cephalosporin antibiotic can be significantly reduced by adding the oregano essential oil composition to calf diets, they said.
“Orego-Stim Liquid, when included in milk at 10ml per calf per day for 10 days, significantly reduced development of AMR in E. coli to 4th generation cephalosporins in the feces of dairy calves,” as per the trial results.
AMR is a serious, global issue affecting all classes of livestock and humans alike. Initiatives to inhibit AMR can help to ensure that the 'highest priority and critically important' antibiotics commonly used in human and animal medicine, such as cephalosporins, can be safeguarded for future use, said the company.
"The trial work was conducted at Reading University in 2019 and is something that we at Anpario, and our customers, are very interested in. Therefore, the work has formed part of our marketing for Orego-Stim, joining the results of other trials demonstrating additional benefits, such as increased weaning weights and reduced Cryptosporidia counts. However, the UK patent for this work has only recently been granted," a spokesperson for Anpario told this publication.
The study
In the trial, two-day old Holstein male calves were offered either waste milk with Orego-Stim Liquid added for the first ten days or a control diet of the same waste milk source without the addition of Orego-Stim Liquid. After the initial ten days, all calves were fed the same ration of untreated waste milk and concentrates until weaning at eight weeks of age.
In the feces of calves fed waste milk with no Orego-Stim, 44.1% of E. coli present were resistant to the cephalosporin antibiotic (cefquinome). However, in calves fed waste milk supplemented with Orego-Stim Liquid until day ten, this was significantly reduced, with only 12.6% of total E. coli being resistant to cefquinome, the researchers found.
Dr Partha Ray said that oregano essential oil supplementation not only reduced the abundance of cefquinome-resistant E. coli but also delayed the emergence of resistance to cefquinome.
David Wilde, Anpario’s global innovation manager and ruminant specialist, noted that waste milk is a valuable resource on all dairy farms and disposing of it in slurry lagoons only transfers the AMR issue elsewhere. He said the research findings show that oregano essential oil supplementation could allow the continued use of such “vital” calf feed.
Tax benefits arising from patent awards
Anpario is hoping that the UK patent will provide a tax benefit to the group via the UK Patent Box scheme, which allows companies to apply a lower rate of corporation tax to profits attributable to qualifying patents.
"The scheme is a tax incentive for R&D specific to the UK and it is utilized by around 1,400 companies across the country," said the Anpario representative.
