Health committee  No, if you kill the bacteria, there's no way that you're transferring the resistance. The resistance is in the bacteria itself and isn't transferable.

Health committee  In relation to the question on the system, as Glenda was saying, the dialogue has changed and the issues have changed for institutions. There is a growing consensus that if we look at it as a system, we need to shift upstream. We need to have people healthier in the first place.

Health committee  Yes, and it's multiple. When you put it all together, the relationship between pathogens in animals and humans is very complex. Some don't pass over; a number do. That's partly what we're concerned about. Part of the reason for inspections by CFIA is to make sure that no sick animal gets into the food system.

Health committee  First, it is a small step for the agency. It will be done together with the Department of Health. It is a way for us to ensure more effective cooperation. The other agencies work well with the provinces, but this is different from the activities of the provinces.

Health committee  Perhaps I will answer in English, because there are a lot of details.

Health committee  Can I generalize the question a bit? It is an issue as it relates to some of our assumptions that getting something at the farm gate or whatever somehow has to be healthier because it's more natural. At the same time, it doesn't have the same level of oversight. It's not so much the oversight of testing and inspection, but the processes in place to minimize the risk of infections and transmission.

Health committee  I'm going to defer to Paul. We deal with the human side of it, but Health Canada does the research, assesses the research, and addresses that.

Health committee  We have a huge concern about antibiotic resistance, whatever the cause. Actually, the appropriate use and much of the antibiotic resistance we're concerned about in humans is largely in terms of how we use antibiotics in humans, not in animals. It is the whole spectrum of the use of antibiotics that is of concern.

Health committee  Certainly the reports are public.

Health committee  There are two major surveillance systems. One is CIPARS, which is focused on the animal-human interface, and there is the Canadian nosocomial infection surveillance program, which is focused on nosocomial infections, hospital- and institution-acquired infections resistance. The two actually go hand in hand.

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  I will start and then maybe Rainer could supplement my remarks. Basically there is the animal interface. Health Canada sets the standards and CFIA does the inspections and monitoring, etc., and a system is in place for dealing with that. Then, because the significant impacts are going to be in health care settings, which is the most effective indicator of what is happening out there, we have a system in place that does monitor those.

Health committee  It was in terms of the use of that antibiotic.

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  We have those systems in place. That is also supplemented by the regular kind of national reporting and the reference work that our laboratories do, which will pick up if something else goofy is going on.