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The article focuses on a significant advancement in stem-cell research within the European Union, highlighting the groundbreaking nature of this development and its potential to revolutionize treatments for various animal diseases. Topics include the implications for veterinary medicine, regulatory considerations, and potential applications in animal health.

An international workshop, held in Wiesbaden, Germany on 15–17 May 2019 provided an overview of existing and new methods and approaches to diagnostics in animal health and their benefits and challenges. The variability in quality and authority review of test kits across the world is a concern for the reliability of test results and the decisions that are based on the diagnostic data. In countries or regions without regulatory oversight, there is an urgent need for international harmonisation of quality requirements and licensing procedures. This would increase the validity of the diagnostic methods and allow mutual recognition of test results within the network of official control laboratories and amongst animal health officials. Regional cooperation, as well as the OIE Laboratory Network, should be used to support licensing procedures, pool resources for serum and sample banks, survey outbreak responses, and coordinate research and development of new veterinary diagnostics. The end-users must have clear information on a test's performance, limitations, and interpretation of results. • Veterinary diagnostics show a concerning variability in quality and in authority review. • International harmonisation of quality requirements and licensing procedures are urgently needed. • Regional cooperation could support licensing, outbreak responses, and coordinate research. • Clear information on a test's performance, limitations, and interpretation of results should be available for the end-users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its introduction in the 1950s, colistin has been used mainly as a topical treatment in human medicine owing to its toxicity when given systemically. Sixty years later, colistin is being used as a last-resort drug to treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Acinetobacter baumannii and Enterobacteriaceae (e.g., Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae ), for which mortality can be high. In veterinary medicine, colistin has been used for decades for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Colistin has been administered frequently as a group treatment for animal gastrointestinal infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria within intensive husbandry systems. Given the ever-growing need to retain the efficacy of antimicrobials used to treat MDR infections in humans, the use of colistin in veterinary medicine is being re-evaluated. Despite extensive use in veterinary medicine, there is limited evidence for the development of resistance to colistin and no evidence has been found for the transmission of resistance in bacteria that have been spread from animals to humans. Since surveillance for colistin resistance in animals is limited and the potential for such transmission exists, there is a clear need to reinforce systematic monitoring of bacteria from food-producing animals for resistance to colistin (polymyxins). Furthermore, colistin should only be used for treatment of clinically affected animals and no longer for prophylaxis of diseases, in line with current principles of responsible use of antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]