Antibiotic sales cut by 55%

UK antibiotic sales for food-producing animals have reduced by 55% since 2014, to 28.3 mg/kg, according to the latest report from the Responsible Use of Medicine in Animals (RUMA).

Its latest summary report covers 10 sectors across aquaculture, pigs, poultry and ruminants looking across data collection and the use of antibiotics, the uptake of preventative measures, such as vaccines and training, and the development of industry initiatives.

Cat McLaughlin, RUMA chair, said: “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 (anti-microbial resistance).

“The successes to date across the industry has put the UK ahead of most food producing EU countries and the current RUMA targets up to 2024, further reinforce the ongoing commitment across all the sectors to achieve sustainable reductions. Antibiotic stewardship is now part of everyday language, with farmers and vets working collaboratively to embed best practice for responsible use across all sectors.”

Also giving a thumbs up the the efforts was Abigail Seager, chief executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. She said: “I’m delighted with the continued progress in so many areas of this year’s 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.

“Our evolving surveillance programmes are essential to alert us to any emerging risks or unexpected changes. The UK’s collaborative and voluntary approach to reducing antimicrobial usage in farming is one we are very proud of and the VMD welcomes the progress sectors are making against their responsible antibiotic use targets as reported in today’s newly published RUMA Targets Task Force 2 report.”