July 4, 2022

17% drop in antibiotic use for UK pigs last year

The amount of antibiotics used to treat pigs on UK farms in 2021 fell by 17%, bringing the total reduction since 2015 to 69%, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

Based on data collected using the electronic medicine book (eMB), which represents approximately 95% of pigs slaughtered in the UK, antibiotic use in 2021 stood at 87mg/PCU, compared with 105mg/PCU in 2020.

The result is a positive step towards meeting the second set of targets developed by the RUMA Targets Task Force of a 30% reduction in total antibiotic use by the end of 2024, based on data from 2020, AHDB said.

The use of the highest priority critically important antibiotics (HP-CIA) remains at a very low level, with a slight decrease from 0.05mg/PCU to 0.03mg/PCU recorded in 2021. No colistin use was reported in pigs in 2021.

The only class of antibiotic in which a reduction was not recorded is Aminoglycosides. Usage increased slightly, at 8.06mg/PCU in 2021, up from 7.89mg/PCU in 2020, continuing the trend noticed in the 2020 data.

- AHDB