[Use of antibiotics in Swiss piglet production and fattening farms]

Use of Antimicrobials by Class in Pigs in Germany-A Longitudinal Description Considering Different International Categorisation Systems

Antimicrobial usage in both human and veterinary medicine is considered one of the main drivers of antimicrobial resistance; its reduction poses a serious challenge. To analyse the associations between usage and resistance, data from monitoring systems and classification of all antimicrobial substances are crucial. In this analysis, we investigated longitudinal data collected between 2013 and 2020 within the Veterinary Consumption of Antibiotics project from pig farms in Germany, including all antimicrobial classes, but focusing on critically important antimicrobials: third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, macrolides, and polymyxins. Analysing the treatment frequency, we found that a reduction in antimicrobial use in all types of pig production has occurred over time, accompanied by a rising percentage of farms without any usage. The lists of the World Health Organisation, World Organisation for Animal Health, and European Medicine Agency classify different antimicrobial substances as critically important. The vast differences between the respective weighted treatment frequencies allocated to the antimicrobials of main interest reflect the huge impact of the three categorisation systems. We concluded that, with the aim of creating national treatment guidelines supporting veterinarians to make treatment decisions, the list of the European Medicine Agency is the most suitable.

Antimicrobial Usage Among Different Age Categories and Herd Sizes in Swiss Farrow-to-Finish Farms

In the Swiss pig sector, the usage of antimicrobials has been recorded, evaluated and systematically reduced on a voluntary basis since 2015. This monitoring has been carried out using various methods thereby enabling continuous national scrutiny as well as international comparisons. To gain a better understanding of the dynamics of the antimicrobial usage on Swiss farms, consumption data of farrow-to-finish farms were analyzed for (i) the within-herd relationships among different age categories and (ii) the influence of the herd size. The data were collected on 71 farms for the year 2017, encompassing the amount of active ingredients and number of defined daily doses Switzerland (nDDDch) in total, and stratified for the different age categories of piglets, weaners, fattening pigs, and sows. The differences in nDDDch per animal among the age categories were determined by a Wilcoxon test and subsequent post-hoc analysis according to Bonferroni. The within-herd relationship among the individual age categories as well as the influence of the herd size on nDDDch per animal measured as kept sows were analyzed by simple linear regression. The evaluation of the treatment days showed that 50% of the nDDDch were used in piglets, 44% for weaners, and 3% each for fattening pigs and sows. Compared to the other age categories, the examination of the number of nDDDch per animal showed a significantly higher number for sows, whereas for fattening pigs the number was significantly lower (P < 0.01). The farm-based analysis using linear regression showed a relationship between antimicrobial usage in sows and piglets (P < 0.001; adj. R² = 0.19). Similarly, a significant relationship between larger herd size and increased antimicrobial usage was observed (P = 0.02; adj. R² = 0.06). The present study provides an insight into the antimicrobial treatment dynamics of farrow-to-finish farms. In particular, the age categories piglets and sows—with their higher number of treatment days in total or per animal—are of interest regarding the potential reduction in antimicrobial usage. Likewise, larger farms with higher management requirements were found to be of particular importance for the reduction of antimicrobial usage. Monitoring programs should therefore evaluate different age categories separately to identify problems for individual farms.

Impact of the Suissano Health Programme on antimicrobial usage on 291 pig farms in Switzerland

BACKGROUND

In 2015, in Switzerland the Suissano Health Programme was implemented in pig production to improve transparency for antimicrobial usage (AMU) and to reduce the usage of fluoroquinolones (FQ), macrolides and cephalosporins, representing highest priority critically important antimicrobials.

METHODS

In the presented cohort study, the impact of the Suissano programme on the AMU of 291 pig farms between 2016 and 2017 was investigated. AMU was calculated in total numbers of defined course doses (nDCDch) for all farms in the programme. For each single farm the nDCDch/animal/year was determined for four different age categories (suckling piglets, weaned piglets, fattening pigs, sows) as well as each antimicrobial substance separately. Trends between 2016 and 2017 were investigated for all farms as well as the 25 per cent with the highest usage of antimicrobials (high users) separately.

RESULTS

Total AMU measured in nDCDch declined by 23 per cent between 2016 and 2017, but statistically significant differences could not be observed when comparing the data sets of the individual farms. A significantly reduced usage of FQ could be demonstrated in suckling piglets (P=0.003), weaned piglets (P=0.006) and sows (P=0.008) in 2017 compared with 2016. For high users, a significant reduction of total AMU could be shown in suckling piglets (P=0.02), weaned piglets (P=0.0004) and fattening pigs (P=0.01).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated a significant reduction in the usage of FQs in suckling piglets, weaned piglets and sows as well as total AMU in suckling piglets, weaned piglets and fattening pigs on high-usage farms.