Antibiotic use in poultry: a survey of eight farms in Thailand.

Gumphol Wongsuvan,Direk Limmathurotsakul,Soawapak Hinjoy,Vanaporn Wuthiekanun,Nicholas Pj Day

doi:10.2471/blt.17.195834

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate antibiotic use in poultry farms in Thailand and estimate the total amount of antibiotics used annually in Thai production of chicken meat.MethodsIn a single province, we surveyed eight farms in which chickens were raised for meat and interviewed the farms’ owners in 2016. The antibiotic use for each chicken was defined as the amount of antibiotic given to the chicken over its entire lifetime divided by the target weight of the chicken at the time of its slaughter. Assuming that the results were nationally representative, we estimated annual antibiotic use on all Thai chickens raised for meat.FindingsNo use of antibiotics for growth promotion was reported. Five farms raised 1-kg chickens for company A and reportedly used no antibiotics unless the chickens were sick. The other three farms raised 3-kg chickens for company B and reported routine use of antibiotics for prophylaxis. Per kg final weight, each chicken raised for company B was reportedly routinely given a mean of 101 mg of antibiotics – that is, 33 mg of amoxicillin, 29 mg colistin, 19 mg oxytetracycline, 18 mg doxycycline and 2 mg tilmicosin. The total amount of antibiotic used on all Thai chickens raised for meat in 2016 was estimated to be 161 tonnes.ConclusionEach year in Thailand, many tonnes of antibiotics are probably routinely used in raising chickens for meat. Labels on retail packs of meat should include data on antibiotic use in the production of the meat.

Highlights

The so-called antibiotic footprint has been proposed as a global tool to communicate the total magnitude of antibiotic use in humans and livestock affecting the ecological system.[1]
The antibiotic use for each chicken was defined as the amount of antibiotic given to the chicken over its entire lifetime divided by the target weight of the chicken at the time of its slaughter
To illustrate a possible use of data on antibiotic footprints on meat packaging, we developed an example based on our findings and the similar concept of providing carbon-footprint information on meat products.[12,13]

Summary

Introduction

The so-called antibiotic footprint has been proposed as a global tool to communicate the total magnitude of antibiotic use in humans and livestock affecting the ecological system.[1]. Farmers use antibiotics for growth promotion, prophylaxis or therapy – their use in growth promotion is being heavily discouraged worldwide.[3] In meat production within 30 European countries in 2015, antibiotic use per so-called population correction unit, i.e. per kg of biomass produced, varied from 2.9 mg in Norway to 434.2 mg in Cyprus.[4] In 2015, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved 41 antibiotics for use in livestock and 31 (76%) of those were deemed to be medically important.[5] Estimations suggest that livestock fed antibiotics excrete 75–90% of those antibiotics un-metabolized and these drugs may enter sewage systems and water sources.[6] Waste from livestock may contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria and active antibiotics that may contaminate the environment and foster the emergence of antibiotic resistance, in bacteria other than those to be found in living livestock and the meat produced from it

Methods

Results

Conclusion