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Mean proportion of treatments with oral colistin across the pig production cycle. Bars indicate the mean relative proportion of treatments with oral colistin in different age periods of the production cycle. Points represent individual expert answers. n, number of answers.
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We aimed at describing antimicrobial usage patterns throughout livestock production cycles, and comparing them across three countries from Northern, Central and Southern Europe. Given the difficulties to collect such detailed usage data, an expert opinion was deemed the most appropriate study design. This study provides new insights into the time p...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... most substances, treatment incidences peaked in the beginning of a production phase (first time period as piglet, weaner or finisher). Oral colistin constitutes an example: the pattern between the countries showed some similarities, peaking in the first time period in the weaning phase (Fig 3). ...
Citations
... The most common causative bacterial species of CM are Staphylococcus aureus, non-aureus staphylococci, streptococci, and coliforms [8,9]. A pathogen-specific approach using narrow-spectrum antimicrobials should be the most important goal of treatment [1,5,6], but their availability and the treatment guidelines and regulations in each country play a role in the treatment decisions in veterinary practice [10][11][12]. Several intramammary (IMM) and injectable antimicrobial products with different active ingredients are available in Estonia [13]. ...
Clinical mastitis (CM) is the most common microbial disease treated in dairy cows. We analyzed the antimicrobial usage in cows with CM (n = 11,420) in large dairy herds (n = 43) in Estonia. CM treatment data were collected during a 12-month study period. The antimicrobial usage was observed during the 21 days from the initiation of treatment, and the incidence of antimicrobial-treated CM was calculated for each study herd. The effect of intramammary (IMM), systemic, and combined (systemic and IMM) penicillin treatment of CM on the post-treatment somatic cell count (SCC) was analyzed using the treatment records of 2222 cows from 24 herds with a mixed multivariable linear regression model. The median incidence of antimicrobial-treated CM was 35.8 per 100 cow-years. Procaine benzylpenicillin and marbofloxacin were used in 6103 (35.5%, 95% CI 34.8–36.2) and 2839 (16.5%, 95% CI 16.0–17.1) CM treatments, respectively. Post-treatment SCC was higher after IMM penicillin therapy compared to systemic or combination therapy. Treatment of CM usually included first-choice antimicrobials, but different antimicrobial combinations were also widely used. The effect of procaine benzylpenicillin to post-treatment SCC was dependent on the administration route, cow parity, and days in milk. Further studies should evaluate the factors affecting veterinarians’ choice of antimicrobial used in the treatment of CM.
... The EC (DG ENTR and DG SANCO) requested the European Medicines Agency (EMA), among other activities, to develop a harmonized approach for the collection and reporting of data based on national sales figures, combined with estimations of usage in at least major groups of species (poultry, pigs, veal calves, other ruminants, pets and fish). Estimates of antimicrobial usage, based on sales data, vary across Europe, in terms of the total amounts sold (per kilogram of animal biomass) and in the different antimicrobial classes used and their routes of administration (EMA ESVAC 2015;Carmo, Nielsen, et al. 2017Carmo, Bouzalas, et al. 2018). Lists of critically important antimicrobials are available and used widely for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in humans (WHO 2011(WHO , 2012(WHO , 2016 and animals (OIE 2015). ...
Concern about the use of antimicrobials in food producing animals is increasing. The study objective was to quantify antimicrobial drug usage in calves using antimicrobial treatment records from Irish suckler beef and dairy farms. Antimicrobial treatment records for calves born between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015 on 79 suckler beef and 44 dairy farms were analyzed. Calves were followed from birth (day 0) until 6 months of age. According to standard farm protocol, calves exhibiting clinical signs of any disease were identified and antimicrobial treatment was administered. Farmers recorded the following information for each treatment administered: calf identification, age at treatment, disease event, drug name, number of treatment days, and amount of drug administered. In total, 3,204 suckler beef calves and 5,358 dairy calves, representing 540,953 and 579,997 calf-days at risk, respectively, were included in the study. A total of 1,770 antimicrobial treatments were administered to suckler beef (n = 841) and dairy calves (n = 929) between birth and 6 months of age. There was large variation in TIDDDvet and TIDCDvet by farm. This study provides new insights into the time periods and indications for which specific antimicrobial substances are used in Irish dairy and beef suckler calves.
Objective The aim of this study was to analyze antimicrobial usage (AMU) in fattening pig farms that took part in the SuisSano/Safety + Health Programme in Switzerland over the year 2020 and to discuss the potential for further improvement. Usage was examined according to the antimicrobial’s class and indication for use, with emphasis on highest priority critically important antimicrobials (HPCIAs).
Methods Data on AMU from 1411 farms, reported in an electronic treatment journal, was used. AMU was quantified through treatment incidence (TI) based on Swiss Defined Daily Doses (DDDch). Indication of use for each antimicrobial class was analyzed with particular focus on HPCIAs.
Results The total TI of all antimicrobials used in the farms corresponds to 8.9 DDDch per 1000 pig-days at risk, of which HPCIAs represented 2.6 %. A total of 140 farms (9.9 %) partake in HPCIAs usage, with tylosin (73.8 % of total HPCIA TI) and colistin (22.8 % of total HPCIA TI) being the most frequently antimicrobials used. The most common indication for treatment with HPCIAs was gastrointestinal disorders (62.1 % of total HPCIA TI).
Conclusion and clinical relevance This study shows that the efforts made in recent years to foster prudent use of antimicrobials and, especially HPCIAs in Swiss pig production, have been successful. Indeed, 90.1 % (1271 of 1411) of the farms did not use any HPCIAs over the year 2020. Of the recorded treatments, HPCIA’s represented only 2.6 % of the total TIs used in fattening pigs. Since many farms do not use any HPCIAs, knowledge can be obtained from these farms to identify practices which can further reduce or even stop HPCIAs usage. Moreover, information concerning indications for HPCIAs usage provide input concerning where treatment options other than HPCIAs should be explored by both farmers and veterinarians.
The globally increasing level of antimicrobial resistance affects both human and animal health, why it is necessary to identify ways to change our current use of antimicrobials. The veterinary herd health collaboration between veterinarians and dairy farmers provides a useful setting for changing antimicrobial use in livestock. However, farmers and veterinarians work in a complex agricultural setting influenced by socio-economic factors, which complicates their choices regarding antimicrobial usage. It is therefore necessary to be aware of the range of potential influencing factors and to integrate this knowledge in the relevant local settings. This manuscript presents a literature review of relevant factors relating to antimicrobial use within the veterinary herd health consultancy setting, including knowledge gaps of relevance for changing the use of antimicrobials. An enriched version of the framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour was used to organise the literature review. We identified diverging attitudes on correct treatment practices and perceptions of antimicrobial resistance among veterinarians and farmers, influenced by individual risk perception as well as social norms. Furthermore, disagreements in terms of goal setting and in the frequency of herd visits in relation to herd health consultancy can negatively influence the collaboration and the intention to change antimicrobial use. Farmers and veterinarians emphasise the importance of legislation and the role of the dairy industry in changing antimicrobial use, but the relevance of specific factors depends on the country-specific context. Overall, farmers and veterinarians must communicate better to understand each other's perspectives and establish common goals within the collaboration if they are to work efficiently to reduce antimicrobial use. Farmers and veterinarians both requested changes in individual behaviour; however, they also called for national and structural solutions in terms of balanced legislation and the availability of better diagnostics to facilitate a change in antimicrobial use practices. These various paths to achieving the desired changes in antimicrobial use illustrate the need to bridge methodological research approaches of veterinary science and social sciences for a better understanding of our potential to change antimicrobial use within the dairy farm animal sector.
The aim of this cross-sectional study was to characterise the usage of antibiotic and non-antibiotic drugs with a withdrawal period in German veal calves in more detail. In Germany, the documentation of the usage of veterinary medicinal products in food producing animals is mandatory. In the German monitoring system antibiotic use in calves under the age of eight months is recorded irrespective of the production type and only some basic measures (50 % and 75 % percentiles of the entire distributions of the treatment frequencies) are published regularly. Within this study 57 farms were included contributing data of 169 veal calf groups with a total of 91,196 individual calves. To assess the drug use the treatment frequency (TF) was calculated. Most treatments were applied in the first weeks after arrival at the farm against respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders, accounting for 65.2 % and 28.6 % of the TF, respectively. Antibiotics account for 91 % of the TF. The antibiotics used most frequently were tetracyclines (35.6 %), beta-lactams (21.9 %), macrolides (12.7 %), sulphonamides (6.0 %) and trimethoprimes (5.3 %). Tetracyclines and polypeptides were administered as group treatments in more than half of the recorded applications. The number of antibiotic group treatments decreased considerably from the first to the second half of the fattening period. Logistic regression analyses revealed no statistically significant association between TF and groups size or mortality. Nevertheless, the results indicate a negative associated between TF and mortality. Concerning non-antibiotics mainly iron compounds, arylpropionic acids, mucolytics and avermectines were applied, accounting for about 5 % of the total TF. The present study provides basic data on antibiotic and non-antibiotic use in German veal calf production.
To evaluate the contribution of antimicrobial use in human and veterinary medicine to the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria, the use of these substances has to be accurately monitored in each setting. Currently, various initiatives collect sales data of veterinary antimicrobials, thereby providing an overview of quantities on the market. However, sales data collected at the level of wholesalers or marketing authorization holders are of limited use to associate with the prevalence of bacterial resistances at species level. We converted sales data to the number of potential treatments of calves and pigs in Switzerland for the years 2011 to 2015 using animal course doses (ACD). For each authorized product, the number of potential therapies was derived from the sales at wholesaler's level and the ACD in mg per kg. For products registered for use in multiple species, a percentage of the sales was attributed to each authorized species according to their biomass distribution. We estimated a total of 5,914,349 therapies for pigs and 1,407,450 for calves in 2015. Using the number of slaughtered animals for that year as denominator, we calculated a treatment intensity of 2.15 therapies per pig and 5.96 per calf. Between 2011 and 2015, sales of veterinary antimicrobials decreased by 30%. The calculated number of potential therapies decreased by 30% for pigs and 15% for calves. An analysis of treatment intensity at antimicrobial class level showed a decrease of 64% for colistin used in pigs, and of 7% for macrolides used in both pigs and calves. Whereas the use of 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins in calves decreased by 15.8%, usage of fluoroquinolones increased by 10.8% in the same period. Corresponding values for pigs were −16.4 and +0.7%. This is the first extrapolation of antimicrobial usage at product level for pigs and calves in Switzerland. It shows that calves were more frequently treated than pigs with a decreasing trend for both number of therapies and use of colistin, macrolides and cephalosporins 3rd and 4th generations. Nonetheless, we calculated an increase in the usage of fluoroquinolones. Altogether, this study's outcomes allow for trend analysis and can be used to assess the relationship between antimicrobial use and resistance at the national level.
