Abstract
The overuse of antibiotics in livestock contributes to the antibiotic resistance pandemic. The assessment of the actual antibiotic consumption is crucial in limiting the expansion of the problem effectively. The aim of this study was to provide the first qualitative and quantitative analysis of antimicrobial usage using data from paper-based registers on dairy and beef farms located in the Umbria region, Italy. Antimicrobial therapies of a one-year period were collected from 101 farms with at least 50 cattle each. Defined daily doses (DDDvet) and defined course doses (DCDvet) were calculated per administration route and antimicrobial class. The total courses administered were fewer in beef (330.7 × 10−3 DCDvet/year) than in dairy farms (1034.1 × 10−3 DCDvet/year). The use of the highest priority critically important antimicrobials (HPCIAs) was higher (p = 0.0033) in dairy than in beef herds. In terms of DDDvet, the parenteral fluoroquinolone administration ranked second and fourth on dairy and beef farms, respectively; the consumption of beta-lactams was ten times higher on dairy than on beef farms. Our results confirm that intensive dairy management practices are associated with increased antibiotic consumption and highlight the necessity to strengthen the existing stewardship programs by involving all stakeholders in effective antimicrobial resistance reduction plans.
Highlights
The pandemic of antibiotic resistance (AMR) poses a global threat for human health
No statistical differences were observed between the sample and the latter regional subpopulation in terms of the differences were observed between the sample and the latter regional subpopulation in terms of the distributions of herd sizes on either livestock category
Results obtained by previous studies at a national level [2] should be analyzed in-depth to achieve a permanent reduction in the use of antimicrobials in the context of One Health
Summary
The pandemic of antibiotic resistance (AMR) poses a global threat for human health. Human-to human transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is the main way of acquiring and spreading AMR; other ecosystems contribute to its emergence and dissemination. The overuse of antibiotics in farm animals is a major contributor to AMR; antibiotics put selective pressure on microbial populations and result in the spread of resistant bacteria [3,4]. Stewardship programs aimed at reducing the consumption of antibiotics by farm animals have been included in action plans against AMR [3,5,6]. In most of these plans, surveillance is based on the systematic collection of antibiotic consumption data, which constitute an invaluable tool for the analysis of the progress of antimicrobial stewardship programs either at the farm, regional, national, or supranational levels [2,5,7]
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