The UK pig industry has reduced its antibiotics use by 75% in eight years, the AHDB has said today (Tuesday, June 13).
It has also surpassed the 30% reduction target in total antibiotic use set by the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) Targets Task Force (TTF) between 2020 and 2024.
This was helped by a large decline in use of 20% in 2022 alone; data collected by AHDB using the electronic Medicine Book (eMB), representing approximately 95% of pigs slaughtered in the UK, show that antibiotic use in 2022 stood at 70mg/PCU (milligrams per population correction unit), a significant improvement compared with 87mg/PCU in 2021.
2022 had the third-highest year-on-year change since 2015. It follows 2016, when antibiotic use reduced by 34% and 2017, when it reduced by 28%.
“Farmers and vets should be extremely proud of the work they have done to demonstrate a responsible approach to antibiotic use,” Dr. Mandy Nevel, AHDB head of Animal Health and Welfare said.
“The extensive data set collated over the last eight years has provided robust evidence of progress and has helped vets and farmers work collaboratively to make changes on farm and monitor that progress.
“The eMB was an industry initiative facilitated by the Pig Health and Welfare Council and over the last eight years, champions of the system, both farmers and vets, have led the industry on the road to responsible antibiotic use.
“It is wonderful to see what the industry collective can and has achieved.”
Grace Webster, vet, and chair of the Pig Health and Welfare Council Antimicrobial Use Subgroup said:
“This year’s significant reduction in antibiotic use on the UK’s pig farms takes the sector below the TTF2 target and in part, reflects the extended use of Zinc Oxide manufactured before the withdrawal of its marketing authorisation which the VMD (Veterinary Medicines Directorate) authorised up to the end of the Shelf Life of that product.
“This has avoided an anticipated rise in antibiotic use to treat Post Weaning Diarrhoea in 2022 but as supplies run out in the coming months, this may still be an issue that vets and pig producers are yet to face,” she added.
