Sales of antibiotics for animals at lowest level to date
Report shows total quantity of antibiotics sold for livestock remains at the lowest level to date. Upticks in antibiotic use in some sectors highlight need for continued collective action. Multi-drug resistance in pigs and poultry has reduced to an all-time low after a decade of reducing antibiotic use.
Multi-drug resistance in UK animals remains at its lowest level since reporting started a decade ago as shown in a report published by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) today (19 November).
The figures, published in the latest UK-Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) Report during World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week, show that antibiotic sales in food-producing animals remain at a 59% reduction since 2014. Sales of antibiotics of highest critical importance to human health remain at extremely low levels, accounting for less than half a percent of total veterinary antibiotic sales.
This year’s report marks 10 years of collecting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data from pigs and poultry in the harmonised monitoring programme, and for the first the time reports on AMR levels in sheep, beef, and dairy cattle. This initial baseline data helps provide a more complete picture of AMR and begins to address one of key commitments of the UK’s new National Action Plan on AMR, published in May, to tackle our data gaps around antibiotic use and resistance.
A decade of reducing antibiotic use in food producing animals and farming sectors, supported by VMD, have worked hard to reduce antibiotic use in food-producing animals over the last decade. This has resulted in declining AMR levels, but if upticks in use seen in this year’s report for some sectors become trends, we must anticipate this being reflected by increasing AMR. This highlights the need for continued antibiotic stewardship efforts.
AMR is a huge global challenge, affecting human and animal health, food security, and economic growth. It occurs when bacteria and other microorganisms evolve to resist antimicrobial drugs like antibiotics, rendering these treatments less effective or even ineffective in animals and people. New estimates show more than 39 million deaths directly attributable to bacterial AMR will occur between now and 2050. Avoiding unnecessary antibiotic usage in humans and animals is crucial to slowing the development of antibiotic resistance.
This has been an important year for AMR both domestically with the publication of the new AMR National Action Plan and internationally with the United Nation’s High-Level Meeting on AMR in September, producing a landmark political declaration to galvanise international action. Focus must now be on implementation, globally, nationally and locally, providing an opportunity for the UK’s farming sector to build on its progress to date.
Abi Seager, Veterinary Medicines Directorate CEO said:
The VMD has been publishing antibiotic sales, use and resistance data for the UK’s animal population for over a decade and the positive trends demonstrate the dedication of the UK’s farmers and vets to ensure responsible antibiotic use in animals.
I am especially proud of our AMR surveillance programme which continues to expand and become more robust. This year also marks the launch of the 2024-2029 AMR National Action Plan, and I look forward to seeing renewed ambition from the veterinary and agriculture sectors as they set new targets through RUMA’s Targets Task Force next year.
APHA Chief Executive Jenny Stewart said:
APHA has a long history of working on antimicrobial resistance in the animal health sector and has been partnering with the VMD for many years, to tackle this important global challenge.
Today’s report, which is published during World AMR Awareness Week, highlights ongoing progress but also the vital need for continued action in this space. We will continue to work closely with UK vets and farmers, as well as international partners, to address the threat of AMR.
UK Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said:
This year’s UK-VARSS report demonstrates how continued collaboration is helping to maintain progress in the responsible use of antibiotics thereby stemming the AMR tide.
It is crucial that we continue to work with our farmers and vets as well as our counterparts internationally on tackling this One Health risk.
Baroness Hayman, Minister for Biosecurity, Borders and Animal Welfare, said:
Collaboration between farmers, vets, industry, and government is integral to the UK-VARSS report’s results and collective hard work over the last decade has led to significant reductions in AMR in animals.
We must continue the work of improving stewardship of antibiotics across all sectors. The new AMR National Action Plan and strengthened Veterinary Medicine Regulations will help to achieve this and improve our AMR surveillance capability which is critical to protect the UK’s biosecurity.
Catherine McLaughlin, Chair of The Responsible use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) said:
These latest results from both the VARSS Report and in our RUMA Agriculture Targets Task Force Report, demonstrate that the collaborative, voluntary efforts over the past decade from the UK farmed animal, bird and fish sectors in addressing AMR are clearly paying off. The fact that AMR continues to decline with multi-drug resistance in animals at an all-time low should be applauded and should reassure everyone that the work on responsible use and stewardship is making a real and tangible difference.
As RUMA Agriculture starts to plan for our third cycle of targets (TTF3) over the coming year, these latest results will undoubtedly give everyone the ongoing confidence and continued focus to build on what is already done and be as ambitious as possible as we drive forward our efforts to tackle AMR and protect the efficacy of antibiotics; all with the common goal of helping to save the lives of animals and people.
More information on the specific targets and ambitions on antibiotic use from each livestock sector can be found in The Targets Taskforce (TTF) update report, which was also published today.
Further information:
AMR surveillance is an area of continual improvement, including utilising molecular technologies. APHA scientists detected the presence of bacteria harbouring a gene conferring resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics on a UK pig farm, as part of existing surveillance. APHA scientists developed a specialised test to screen routine surveillance samples for this gene, which helps us monitor and respond to this emerging issue, as referenced in this year’s VARSS report.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) promote animal health and welfare by assuring the safety, quality and efficacy of veterinary medicines. VMD is also the Defra policy lead for AMR, and coordinates UK-wide surveillance for antibiotic use and resistance, which is published annually in the UK-VARSS report. APHA leads the scientific contributions to AMR surveillance and research in bacteria associated with animals.
APHA is both a World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and with VMD and Cefas hold the designation for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Reference Laboratory for antimicrobial resistance.
Wider APHA work on AMR includes working with international partners in their home laboratories to develop their AMR capacity, hosting visitors at UK facilities, supporting the development of a global community of AMR leaders and experts, training scientists, and helping to build One Health partnerships for action on AMR.
Contact us at [email protected] or visit www.vmdconnect.uk.
Details of the APHA study concerning amikacin resistance can be found in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy: https://academic.oup.com/jac/article/79/6/1329/7647005#462593603
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Notes to editors
- Amikacin study: APHA scientists recently detected the presence of bacteria harbouring a gene conferring resistance to the antibiotic amikacin and other closely related antibiotics on a UK pig farm. This was the first detection of this type of resistance in bacteria from food animals reported in the UK. The team collected environmental samples during two visits to the farm – with the second visit taking place after an interval to allow cleaning and disinfection - and found the gene on both occasions in both Salmonella and E. coli bacteria, highlighting both its presence and spread between different bacteria in the farm environment. Amikacin is a critically important antibiotic in human medicine and is not authorised for use in livestock in the UK. The amikacin resistance gene which was detected also confers resistance to the related antibiotics tobramycin and gentamicin; the latter compound is used in Europe to treat infections in pigs but is not widely used in the UK. The discovery of this gene led to APHA and VMD implementing screening for it in the harmonised monitoring samples for pigs referenced in this year’s VARSS report. The finding underlines the need for vigilant farm biosecurity, measures to monitor and control the occurrence of AMR genes in livestock and measures to prevent resistant bacteria passing to humans via the food chain or to humans and livestock via the environment.