Abstract
BackgroundWithin a feasibility study the use of antibiotics in pigs and cattle was determined in 24 veterinary practices in Lower Saxony and on 66 farms in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Focus was laid on the comparison of the Used Daily Doses (UDD) (dose per animal and day prescribed by the veterinarians) with the Defined Animal Daily Doses (ADD) (dose per animal and day calculated by means of recommended dosages and estimated live weights).ResultsFor piglets and calves most of the UDD (50% and 46% of nUDD, respectively) were above the ADD (i.e. UDD/ADD-ratio above 1.25). Regarding sows, fattening pigs, dairy and beef cattle, most of the UDDs (49% to 65% of nUDD) were lower than the respective ADD (i.e. UDD/ADD-ratio below 0.8). In pigs, the UDDs of beta-lactams, fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins, and in cattle, those of macrolides and beta-lactams were often below the ADDs. Tetracyclines were frequently used above the recommended dose.Enteric diseases were more often treated below the recommended dose than respiratory diseases, possibly due to overestimation of the live weight (diarrhea in young animals, respiratory diseases in elder animals) and consequently overestimation of the recommended dose.ConclusionComparisons between UDD and ADD can be used to observe differences between antimicrobials and trends in the usage of antibiotics. But individual treatment comparisons of UDD and ADD must be interpreted carefully, because they may be due to lower live weights than estimated. Correlating such data with data on the occurrence of resistant bacteria in future may help to improve resistance prevention and control.
Highlights
Within a feasibility study the use of antibiotics in pigs and cattle was determined in 24 veterinary practices in Lower Saxony and on 66 farms in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany
In total, 57% of all records were related to pigs, resulting in 96% of all number of Used Daily Doses (nUDD) and 94% of all number of Defined Animal Daily Doses (nADD)
22% of all records accounted for 47% of all nUDD and 58% of all nADD
Summary
Within a feasibility study the use of antibiotics in pigs and cattle was determined in 24 veterinary practices in Lower Saxony and on 66 farms in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. According to the EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards, resistance monitoring has to be supplemented by the collection of data on the antibiotic use in humans as well as in the veterinary sector [5]. The European Medicines Agency EMA initiated the European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption ESVAC, a project which collects sales data from EU member states in a harmonized protocol [7,8,9]. While this project started in 2005 with 10 countries, participation increased in 2010 to 19 countries [10] and in 2011 to 25 countries [11]. The impact of tetracyclines (mg/PCU) ranged from 4 to 59% of all mg/PCU (average 39%), while cephalosporins reached an average of 0.5% of all mg/PCU
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