News article, 20. December 2023
Declining antibiotic use among livestock in Europe
Use in Denmark was 34.1 mg per kg animal. Denmark used 57% fewer antibiotics for Danish livestock than the average usage in Europe.
Veterinarian and Chief Adviser, Jan Dahl, sees a positive trend. Antibiotic use for livestock across Europe has fallen by 53% since 2011.
The results originate from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) which has just published its latest report for antibiotic use for animals in the EU in 2022 (Link: Sales of veterinary antimicrobial agents in 31 European countries in 2022 - Trends from 2010 to 2022 - Thirteenth ESVAC report (europa.eu). The figures show that Denmark is 57% below the European average antibiotic use for livestock and use of the critically important antibiotics in Denmark is recorded as being so low that it could not be stated.
“The use of antibiotics for animals in Europe has fallen by 53% since 2011. And use of 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins has declined by 51%, fluoroquinolones by 25% and colistin by 81%. There is thus a very positive trend in both overall use and the use of the critically important antibiotics across Europe,” says Jan Dahl, Veterinarian and Chief Adviser at the Danish Agriculture & Food Council.
Average use per kg of biomass (biomass is the total weight of all livestock in the country) was 73.9 mg per kg animal. Use in Denmark was 34.1 mg per kg animal. Denmark used 57% fewer antibiotics for Danish livestock than the average usage in Europe. Use of the critically important antibiotics in Denmark was, as in the other Scandinavian countries, registered as so low that it could not be stated. That is, effectively 0.
Compared with 2021, there was a slight rise from 33.4 mg per kg animal to 34.1 mg per kg animal. This is partly due to the slight rise in the use for piglets following the stoppage of zinc and a shift in the composition of the population. Due to a larger export share of piglets, finishers account for a smaller proportion of the biomass. Since more antibiotics are used per piglet than per kg finisher, the usage stated per kg animal increases.
Antibiotics are not ‘just’ antibiotics
A differentiation is usually made between critically important antibiotics and other types of antibiotics. WHO and EMA have designated a number of antibiotic preparations that should not be used in livestock production. This is due to the fact that these types of antibiotics are particularly important in the treatment of humans. It has been shown that the effect of critically important antibiotics is impeded if the preparations are used in both livestock production and in humans at the same time.
In Denmark, the critically important antibiotics, fluoroquinolones, 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins and colistin have all been phased out.