January 25, 2022

Increased use of colistin in Dutch livestock sector in 2020

The overall use of colistin in the Netherlands' livestock sector increased by 7.3% in 2020, according to the latest report by the Netherlands Veterinary Medicines Institute (SDa) concerning the use of antibiotics in animal production in the country.

Its use has been increasing since 2017, representing a 62.1% increase over the 2017-2020 period.

Since colistin is of critical importance for human medicine, its use in veterinary medicine should be limited as much as possible, which is why the SDa expert panel considers that urgent measures are required to prevent this unfavorable development.

The use of colistin in the swine industry accounted for 82% of the total, being 9.3% higher than the previous year (1175.5kg of active ingredient in 2020 versus 1075.3kg in 2019).

Its use is mainly for the treatment of enteropathogenic E. coli infections in weaned piglets. Of the amount of colistin used in pig farming, 91.0% could be attributed to use in weaned piglets, 6.4% for use in suckling piglets and 2.6% for use in finishing pigs.

- Pig333 Staff / SDa.