The UK pig sector has continued to make progress against its current set of antibiotic targets, despite the immense pressures it has faced over the past 18 months, according to a new report.
The RUMA Targets Task Force 2 has published its latest report on progress made by the various livestock sectors during year two year of the current set of antibiotic use targets which span 2021-2024.
The report coincides with the release of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s (VMD) 2021 Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance (UK-VARSS) report, which showed that UK antibiotic sales for food-producing animals fell to a new low of 28.3 mg/kg. Overall antibiotic sales have now fallen by 55% since 2014.
The latest RUMA TTF summary report covers 10 sectors across pigs, poultry, ruminants and aquaculture, providing a progress update on data collection, use of antibiotics, uptake of preventative measures such as vaccines and training and the development of industry initiatives.
- You can view the full report HERE
Pigs
The context for pigs, of course, is various crises the industry faced during 2021, as labour shortages in the processing sector linked to Brexit resulted more than 200,000 pigs being backlogged on farm, with average slaughter weights soaring to in excess of 95kg.
This resulted in ‘enormous pressure’ on many farms, although the scale of impacts was varied, the report stressed, noting, however, that even on the worst-affected farms, animal welfare remained a priority.
“Significant effort was needed to ensure pigs remained healthy without relying on antibiotics, which should be highly commended amidst the sector challenges,” the report said, adding that the vet-farmer relationship played a key role in this achievement.
Its success is evident from the eMB data published by AHDB for 2021 which shows that antibiotic usage for the pig sector was 87mg/PCU in 2021, a decline of 17% on the previous year. This equates to an overall reduction of 69% since 2015 (eMB developed by AHDB).
Use of the Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HP-CIAs) remained very low at 0.03mg/PCU (a reduction from 0.05mg/PCU in 2020), with zero use of colistin.
Aminoglycoside use increased marginally to 8.06mg/ PCU in 2021, up from 7.89mg/PCU in 2020, a trend noted in the 2020 data.
The report noted, however, that it is to be expected that certain categories of antibiotics will show increases in some years as disease patterns vary.
“This is responsible use,” it said. “By monitoring these changes, focus can be applied to disease areas where any increases cause concern.”
Zinc oxide shift
The policy and focus on zinc shifted when the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) decided in January to permit the use of zinc oxide products that are Qualified Person (QP) released and in the supply chain before June 26, 2022, until the end of their shelf life, despite the withdrawal of the Marketing Authorisation (MA).
It is believed there is around a 12-month supply of zinc oxide product available, which allows for a reasonable window to use up product already in the system and gives time for the exploration of alternative weaning strategies and management where zinc products are currently being used.
The pig section concluded: “In summary, producers haven’t faced such challenging times since the late nineties, but pig producers and their vets have risen to the challenge and even in times of adversity, continue to put the welfare of pigs first.”
Pig target progress
The RUMA report identified various pig targets that had been ‘achieved’, including:
- Introducing a programme in 2021 supporting Persistently High Users to reduce use – Red Tractor introduced a new requirement in its pig standards in November 2021.
- Shifting away from in-feed medication – in-feed medication accounted for 59% of annual use in 2021 (down from 61% in 2020), while in-water antibiotics now account for 37% of active ingredient used, compared with 34% in 2020.
- Maintain/increase on-time submission of data to eMB annually – 86% of data is submitted on time.
- Medicines training update – RT brought in a standard in November 2021 requiring at least one team member on each unit to have undertaken approved training in the responsible use of medicines. 91% of RT pig farms met the standard at audit before the end of July 2022. The rest complied within 28 days.
Progress was defined as ‘well advanced’ towards other targets, including:
- Reducing overall usage by a further 30% between 2020 and 2024 – antibiotic usage in the pig sector has reduced by 17% from the 2020 baseline.
- Keeping use of highest priority antibiotics equal to or lower than 2019 baselines – 2021 use was slightly down on 2020.
Reaction
Cat McLaughlin, RUMA chair and chair of the RUMA Targets Task Force 2 said: “As we reach the half-way point, two years into the second cycle of the RUMA Targets Task Force targets, I continue to be impressed by the commitment of farmers, vets and everyone in the food supply chain, and am full of praise for the work of UK agriculture in its efforts to tackle AMR.
“The past two years since the launch of the second set of TTF targets have not been easy; the impacts of the global pandemic, the UK’s exit from the European Union, coupled with rising production costs, ongoing labour shortages, ongoing trade negotiations, supply chain issues contributing to animals remaining on farm longer than usual, and the onset of the cost-of-living crisis, has made for challenging conditions right across UK farming.
“Yet despite that, the industry has remained united and focused when it comes to addressing the AMR challenge and has not wavered in its commitment.”
“Some sectors, in response to specific disease outbreaks or other factors, have seen some increases in usage in order to effectively address these challenges and protect animal welfare. This reinforces the point that antibiotics are a vital tool to ensure healthy animals and high welfare standards. The focus is not on zero use, but responsible use.”
NPA Chief Policy Adviser, Rebecca Veale, said: “Both reports highlight the success and progress achieved by the pig sector.
“Whilst the numbers are important and should be celebrated especially given the challenging few years our industry has faced, the more holistic targets which industry has set also demonstrate the wider commitment to a responsible approach to medicines and pig health.
“As a sector we should be very proud and continue to build on this excellent journey to date.”
Abigail Seager, chief executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, said: “I’m delighted with the continued progress in so many areas of this year’s UK- VARSS report.
“The overall decreasing trends in antimicrobial usage and resistance levels in livestock, shows the UK has continued in its mission to build on the antibiotic stewardship principles we have implemented in the past seven years.”
British Veterinary Association junior vice president Anna Judson said: “Both the VARSS and RUMA reports show that the UK continues to maintain the momentum in stewarding responsible veterinary antibiotic use in the face of the ongoing global threat of antimicrobial resistance.
“It is encouraging to see steady overall reductions in antibiotic sale and use, despite the unique challenges resulting from Brexit, rising production costs, the cost-of-living crisis and record numbers of avian influenza cases.
“It is a testament to the hugely successful collaborative work being carried out by vets, farmers and the industry to champion responsible antibiotic use and greater disease prevention measures across each of the livestock sectors, while ensuring that antibiotics continue to be available for use in the interest of animal health and welfare.”