Effectiveness of alternative measures to reduce antimicrobial usage in pig production in four European countries

Abstract

Background The reduction of antimicrobial usage (AMU) is in the focus in modern pig production. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of alternatives to reduce AMU at herd level. In a prospective study, 68 farrow-to-finish pig herds located in Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden were recruited on a voluntary basis to implement tailor-made intervention plans to reduce their AMU. Alternative measures included improvement of biosecurity (n = 29 herds), vaccination (n = 30), changes of feeding schemes or drinking water quality (n = 45), improved pig health and welfare care (n = 21) as well as changes in stable climate and zootechnical measures (n = 14). Herds were followed for 1 year after implementation of measures. Annual antimicrobial expenditures or treatment records, as well as disease incidence scores were collected and compared to those of the year before intervention. AMU was measured as the treatment incidence and calculated by age category, antimicrobial class and administration route. Results Compliance with the intervention plans was high (median 93%). AMU was significantly reduced following the implementation of alternative measures: in the median herd of the four countries, pigs were treated before intervention 25% of their expected lifespan (200 days from birth to slaughter) and after intervention 16%. AMU of suckling and weaned pigs were significantly reduced by 37 and 54%, respectively. The usage of polymyxins and tetracyclines was significantly reduced by 69 and 49%, respectively. AMU via feed and water, as well as parenteral AMU were significantly reduced by 46 and 36%, respectively. Herds with a higher AMU level before intervention achieved a bigger reduction. The majority of disease incidence were similar before and after intervention, with a few exceptions of disorders related to the gastro-intestinal tract in suckling pigs (decreased) and in breeding pigs (increased). Conclusion Following tailor-made implementation of alternative measures, a substantial reduction of AMU in pig production was achievable without jeopardizing animal health. The AMU reduction in the youngest age categories (suckling and weaned pigs) and the reduction of group treatments via feed and water was in line with the recent European Guidelines on the prudent use of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine.

The Use of Antimicrobials in Italian Heavy Pig Fattening Farms

“…These results may be explained by larger farms paying more attention to biosecurity and management. A positive relationship between farm size and biosecurity was described in a Belgian study [ 39 ] and higher or improved biosecurity may lead to lower AMU [ 30 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Therefore, factors that could influence AMU (e.g., management, biosecurity, housing system, alternatives to antimicrobials) should be further investigated in Italian pig farms.…”

Reducing Antimicrobial Usage in Small-Scale Chicken Farms in Vietnam: A 3-Year Intervention Study

“…Such interventions will need to overcome the diversity of production systems and value chains they depend on and the patterns of AMU in these systems and their policy contexts. A number of interventions have already taken place in developed countries based on improvements in biosecurity and husbandry practices aiming at reducing AMU in pigs ( 19 – 21 ) and broilers ( 22 ). However, no intervention studies targetting AMU in small-scale farming systems from LMICs have been published.…”

Reducing antimicrobial usage in small-scale chicken farms in Vietnam: A three-year intervention study

“…A similar holistic approach was adopted on a study on pig farms in Belgium, resulting in 52% AMU reduction in pigs raised from birth to slaughter, and by 32% among breeding animals; furthermore, the study resulted in additional productivity gains (Postma et al, 2017). Similarly, a study conducted in four European Union (EU) countries reported AMU reductions of 3% and 54% in fattening in weaned pigs, respectively following improvements of herd management practices (Raasch et al, 2020). However, reductions in AMU were not seen in breeding pigs, and the authors attributed it to the concurrent incursion of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea (PED) in Germany.…”

“…Such interventions will need to overcome the diversity of production systems and value chains they depend on and the patterns of AMU in these systems and policy contexts. A number of interventions have already taken place in developed countries based on improvements in biosecurity and husbandry practices aiming at reducing AMU in pigs (Raasch et al, 2020;Postma et al, 2017;Rojo-Gimeno et al, 2016) and broilers (Roskam et al, 2019).…”