title: Quantitative and qualitative antimicrobial usage patterns in farrow-to-finish pig herds in Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden.
abstract: Data on sales of antimicrobials using a standardised methodology have shown that there are vast differences between countries in amounts of antimicrobials sold for food-producing animals, but these data do not provide insight on how sales are distributed by species and age groups. The aim of this study was to compare herd level antimicrobial usage for pigs by age category, antimicrobial class and administration route for farrow-to-finish herds in four EU countries. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 227 farrow-to-finish pig herds with at least 100 sows and 500 finishing pigs in Belgium (n=47), France (n=60), Germany (n=60) and Sweden (n=60). Detailed information about the antimicrobial consumption for breeding and growing pigs was collected. Antimicrobial usage was quantified as active substance expressed as mg and then converted to treatment incidence (TI) based on Defined Daily Doses Animal per 1000 pig-days at risk. TIs varied between and within countries, herds and age groups. The Swedish herds had the lowest and the German herds the highest overall use. Most treatments were applied to weaned piglets except in the Swedish herds where treatments of suckling piglets were most frequent. Antimicrobials were most often applied through feed or water except in the Swedish herds where parenteral treatments were most frequent. Aminopenicillins was the antimicrobial class most commonly used. Use of third and fourth generation cephalosporins constituted 11% of use for the Belgian herds, which was higher compared to the other countries. There was a significant (p<0.01) association between the within-herd antimicrobial use across different age categories. This study has shown that there were large differences in antimicrobial use for pigs between countries, herds and age groups in farrow-to-finish herds of similar size when actual consumption data were compared. Collecting detailed usage data can be used to efficiently target high users in order to reduce antimicrobial consumption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Health and Antimicrobial Strategies, National Veterinary Institute, SVA, SE-751 89 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7054, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: marie.sjolund@sva.se.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sjölund
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Epidemiology Unit, Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Postma
authors.affiliation: SAFOSO AG, Waldeggstrasse 1, CH 3097 Bern Liebefeld, Switzerland; UMR1300 BioEpAR, LUNAM Université, Oniris, INRA, F-44307 Nantes, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Collineau
authors.affiliation: Field Station for Epidemiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Büscheler Straße 9, D-49456, Bakum, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lösken
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7054, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Backhans
authors.affiliation: UMR1300 BioEpAR, LUNAM Université, Oniris, INRA, F-44307 Nantes, France; INRA, UMR1300 Biology, Epidemiology and Risk Analysis in animal health, CS 40706, F-44307 Nantes, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Belloc
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7054, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Emanuelson
authors.affiliation: Field Station for Epidemiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Büscheler Straße 9, D-49456, Bakum, Germany.
authors.forename: E Groβe
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Beilage
authors.affiliation: SAFOSO AG, Waldeggstrasse 1, CH 3097 Bern Liebefeld, Switzerland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stärk
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Epidemiology Unit, Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dewulf
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001530:Belgium; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005602:France; D005858:Germany; D013548:Sweden; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014886:Weaning
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Antibiotic; Antimicrobial consumption; Pig; Treatment incidence; Use