Quantification and Trends of Antimicrobial Use in Commercial Broiler Chicken Production in Pakistan

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health challenge and antimicrobial use (AMU) in the livestock sector has been considered as one of the contributing factors towards the development of AMR in bacteria. This study summarizes the results of a point prevalence survey conducted to monitor farm-level AMU in commercial broiler chicken farms in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provinces of Pakistan. A cross-sectional study was conducted to quantify AMU and to check seasonal variations of AMU in 12 commercial broiler chicken farms (six from each province) during the summer and winter seasons of the year 2020–2021. AMU was recorded using three AMU metrics: kg, mg per population correction unit (mg/PCU), and mg/kg of final flock weight. A total of 22 antimicrobial drugs (348.59 kg) were used for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes in surveyed broiler chicken farms. The total combined AMU for all the broiler chicken farms was 462.57 mg/PCU. The use of most of the antimicrobials increased during winter flocks compared to summer. The top three antimicrobial drugs used during the summer were neomycin (111.39 mg/PCU), doxycycline (91.91 mg/PCU), and tilmicosin (77.22 mg/PCU), whereas doxycycline (196.81 mg/PCU), neomycin (136.74 mg/PCU), and amoxicillin (115.04 mg/PCU) during the winter. Overall, 60% of the antibiotics used in broiler chicken were critically important antimicrobial classes (CIA) for human medicine as characterized by the World Health Organization. Our findings showed high AMU in broiler chicken production and a call for urgent actions to regulate CIA use in food animals in Pakistan. This baseline survey is critical for the design and implementation of a subsequent national level AMU surveys that can include additional farming types, animals’ species, and geographical locations over a longer period of time.

Understanding of Future Prescribers About Antimicrobial Resistance and Their Preparedness Towards Antimicrobial Stewardship Activities in Pakistan: Findings and Implications

“…As indicated in previous studies (Atif et al, 2019;Hayat et al, 2019;Asghar et al, 2020;Malik et al, 2021;Umair et al, 2021), our study respondents believed that the use of antibiotics in livestock, inadequate dosing and duration of antibiotics, antibiotic sale without prescription, and excessive use of broad-spectrum antibiotics are potential causes of AMR. These irrational practices are common in LMICs, including Pakistan.…”

Veterinary consumption of highest priority critically important antimicrobials and various growth promoters based on import data in Pakistan

“…Ideally, nationally representative data should be collected at farm level which is the point of usage. Although a series of AMU studies have been carried out on broiler [ 8 , 9 ] and dairy farms [ 10 ] in Pakistan but the samples are not nationally representative and hence cannot be used to estimate the national veterinary AMC. Pakistan does not require wholesalers or distributors to report their sales data to the DRAP.…”

“…Pakistan does not require wholesalers or distributors to report their sales data to the DRAP. This is different from Europe and Thailand, as mentioned above, where many countries require wholesalers to report on antimicrobial sales data [ 4 , 9 ]. It is imperative to understand the amount of CIA-HtP and more broadly CIAs used in animals to formulate regulations and stewardships programs for optimal use.…”

“…Pakistan is expected to be a large consumer of antimicrobials in the animal health sector because of its large animal population and emerging intensive livestock farming. Three farm-level studies, two from poultry [ 8 , 9 ] and one in the dairy sectors [ 10 ] in Pakistan have confirmed this assumption. These studies highlighted the excessive veterinary use of Critically Important Antimicrobials with Highest Priority (CIA-HtP) for human medicine such as quinolones, third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins and macrolides as characterized by the WHO [ 11 ] which is concerning due to the increased risk of accelerating AMR.…”

Open Online Courses for Strengthening Laboratory-Based Detection of Antimicrobial Resistance in Pakistan

“…Additionally, over-the-counter purchase without prescription encourages self-medication practices; furthermore, aggressive antimicrobial use in agriculture, including farming, animal feeds, and fisheries, further compounds the situation. Another important contributing factor is the scarcity of trained and knowledgeable technical staff and limited laboratories with the capacity to detect and confirm quality-assured antibiotic resistance ( 4 , 5 ).…”