National Monitoring of Veterinary-Dispensed Antimicrobials for Use on Pig Farms in Austria: 2015–2020
Antimicrobial use in livestock production systems is increasingly scrutinised by consumers, stakeholders, and the veterinary profession. In Austria, veterinarians dispensing antimicrobials for use in food-producing animals have been required to report these drugs since 2015. Here, we describe the na...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Antibiotics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/2/216 |
| _version_ | 1797483387131265024 |
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| author | Clair L. Firth Reinhard Fuchs Klemens Fuchs |
| author_facet | Clair L. Firth Reinhard Fuchs Klemens Fuchs |
| author_sort | Clair L. Firth |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Antimicrobial use in livestock production systems is increasingly scrutinised by consumers, stakeholders, and the veterinary profession. In Austria, veterinarians dispensing antimicrobials for use in food-producing animals have been required to report these drugs since 2015. Here, we describe the national monitoring systems and the results obtained for Austrian pig production over a six-year period. Antimicrobial dispensing is described using the mass-based metric, milligrams per population correction unit (mg/PCU) and the dose-based metric, Defined Daily Dose (DDDvet) per year and divided into the European Medicines Agency’s prudent use categories. Pig production was divided into breeding units, fattening farms, farrow-to-finish farms, and piglet-rearing systems. Over all six years and all pig production systems, the mean amount of antimicrobials dispensed was 71.6 mg/PCU or 2.2 DDDvet per year. Piglet-rearing systems were found to have the highest levels of antimicrobial dispensing in DDDvet, as well as the largest proportion of Category B antimicrobials, including polymyxins. Although progress has been made in promoting a more prudent use of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine in Austria, further steps need to be taken to proactively improve animal health and prevent disease to reduce the need for antimicrobials, particularly those critically important for human medicine, in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:46:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-33a7eedf5e0f426c8042fd9dd04259c1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6382 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:46:14Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antibiotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-33a7eedf5e0f426c8042fd9dd04259c12023-11-23T18:28:23ZengMDPI AGAntibiotics2079-63822022-02-0111221610.3390/antibiotics11020216National Monitoring of Veterinary-Dispensed Antimicrobials for Use on Pig Farms in Austria: 2015–2020Clair L. Firth0Reinhard Fuchs1Klemens Fuchs2Unit of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, AustriaData, Statistics and Risk Assessment, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), 8010 Graz, AustriaData, Statistics and Risk Assessment, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), 8010 Graz, AustriaAntimicrobial use in livestock production systems is increasingly scrutinised by consumers, stakeholders, and the veterinary profession. In Austria, veterinarians dispensing antimicrobials for use in food-producing animals have been required to report these drugs since 2015. Here, we describe the national monitoring systems and the results obtained for Austrian pig production over a six-year period. Antimicrobial dispensing is described using the mass-based metric, milligrams per population correction unit (mg/PCU) and the dose-based metric, Defined Daily Dose (DDDvet) per year and divided into the European Medicines Agency’s prudent use categories. Pig production was divided into breeding units, fattening farms, farrow-to-finish farms, and piglet-rearing systems. Over all six years and all pig production systems, the mean amount of antimicrobials dispensed was 71.6 mg/PCU or 2.2 DDDvet per year. Piglet-rearing systems were found to have the highest levels of antimicrobial dispensing in DDDvet, as well as the largest proportion of Category B antimicrobials, including polymyxins. Although progress has been made in promoting a more prudent use of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine in Austria, further steps need to be taken to proactively improve animal health and prevent disease to reduce the need for antimicrobials, particularly those critically important for human medicine, in the future.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/2/216antimicrobial usepigsveterinarymonitoring |
| spellingShingle | Clair L. Firth Reinhard Fuchs Klemens Fuchs National Monitoring of Veterinary-Dispensed Antimicrobials for Use on Pig Farms in Austria: 2015–2020 Antibiotics antimicrobial use pigs veterinary monitoring |
| title | National Monitoring of Veterinary-Dispensed Antimicrobials for Use on Pig Farms in Austria: 2015–2020 |
| title_full | National Monitoring of Veterinary-Dispensed Antimicrobials for Use on Pig Farms in Austria: 2015–2020 |
| title_fullStr | National Monitoring of Veterinary-Dispensed Antimicrobials for Use on Pig Farms in Austria: 2015–2020 |
| title_full_unstemmed | National Monitoring of Veterinary-Dispensed Antimicrobials for Use on Pig Farms in Austria: 2015–2020 |
| title_short | National Monitoring of Veterinary-Dispensed Antimicrobials for Use on Pig Farms in Austria: 2015–2020 |
| title_sort | national monitoring of veterinary dispensed antimicrobials for use on pig farms in austria 2015 2020 |
| topic | antimicrobial use pigs veterinary monitoring |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/2/216 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT clairlfirth nationalmonitoringofveterinarydispensedantimicrobialsforuseonpigfarmsinaustria20152020 AT reinhardfuchs nationalmonitoringofveterinarydispensedantimicrobialsforuseonpigfarmsinaustria20152020 AT klemensfuchs nationalmonitoringofveterinarydispensedantimicrobialsforuseonpigfarmsinaustria20152020 |