A national advisor on antibiotics use talks about collaborative efforts to slow resistance. Watch the 3:09 video interview HERE.

Antibiotic resistance in hospitals and veterinary settings has groups of researchers, producers, veterinarians and human doctors striving for an answer, but this is not a one–sided issue.

Dr. Mike Apley with Kansas State University is a veterinarian with 30 years of experience, who also serves on the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic–Resistant Bacteria — otherwise known as the PACCARB.

"We have microbiologists, infectious disease specialists, pharmacologists and epidemiologists from both sides that work together, and we realize a lot of very common threads," Apley says.

To combat antibiotic resistance, Apley says it comes down to the relationship between the prescriber and the patient. Every day, doctors and veterinarians must strike a balance between alleviating individual suffering while preserving the effectiveness of antibiotics for communities.

Apley says that, like human health, animal health communities recognize the importance of evaluating their practices for disease prevention.

"We love to see information and new ways of employing vaccines, nutrition and animal husbandry," he says. "I think genetics are a huge frontier for us in their interaction with disease. I think it becomes, I don't know if 'easy' is the word, but quicker, faster to look at genetic markers and then comparing them back with what's going on disease–wise in those animals. That's a huge frontier for us in looking at all those things together.

"We've got to preserve what we have today, and I think that message resonates loud and clear with our producers."

Read more HERE.