Agreement of benchmarking high antimicrobial usage farms based on either animal treatment index or number of national defined daily doses

Introduction: While treatment frequency as an indicator of antimicrobial consumption is often assessed using defined doses, it can also be calculated directly as an Animal Treatment Index (ATI). In this study, the correlation of calculating antimicrobial usage on Swiss pig farms using either national Defined Daily Doses (DDDch) or an ATI (number of treatments per animal per year) and the agreement between the different methods for the identification of high usage farms were investigated. Material and Methods: The antimicrobial consumption of 893 Swiss pig herds was calculated separately for suckling piglets, weaned piglets, fattening pigs, lactating and gestating sows using the indicators nDDDch (number of DDDch) per animal per year and ATI. Correlations between the indicators were investigated by calculating Spearman's Rho coefficients. The 5, 10, and 25% highest usage farms were determined by applying both methods and the interrater reliability was described using Cohen's Kappa coefficients and visualized by Bland-Altman plots. Results: The Spearman's Rho coefficients showed strong correlations (r > 0.5) between nDDDch/animal/year and ATI. The lowest coefficient was shown for the correlation of both indicators in gestating sows (r = 0.657) and the highest in weaned piglets (r = 0.910). Kappa coefficients identifying high usage farms were the highest in weaned piglets (k = 0.71, 0.85, and 0.91, respectively for 5, 10, and 25% most frequent users) and the lowest in gestating sows (k = 0.54, 0.58, and 0.55 for 5, 10, and 25% most frequent users). Conclusions: In general, the investigated indicators showed strong correlations and a broad agreement in terms of the calculated levels of antimicrobial usage and the identification of high usage farms. Nevertheless, a certain proportion of the farms were defined differently depending on the indicator used. These differences varied by age category and were larger in all age categories except weaned piglets when a higher percentage benchmark was used to define high usage farms. These aspects should be considered when designing scientific studies or monitoring systems and considering which indicator to use

Comparison of Antimicrobial Consumption Patterns in the Swiss and Danish Cattle and Swine Production (2007–2013)

Veterinary antimicrobial consumption patterns vary considerably across Europe. These differences are not only limited to the total amount consumed but are also observed with regards to the relative proportion of the various antimicrobial classes used. Currently, most of the data on veterinary antimicrobials are reported at sales level without any information on the consumption by different animal species. This hinders a proper comparison of antimicrobial consumption at the species level between countries. However, it is imperative to improve our understanding on antimicrobial usage patterns at the species level, as well as on the drivers contributing to those differences. This will allow for development of tailored interventions with the lowest possible risk for human health, while ensuring effective treatment of diseased livestock. An important step to attain such an objective is to perform detailed comparisons of the antimicrobial consumption in each species between countries. We compared antimicrobial consumption estimates for cattle and pigs in Switzerland and Denmark, in order to distinguish species-specific patterns and trends in consumption from 2007 to 2013. Swiss data were obtained from a previous study that assessed methodologies to stratify antimicrobial sales per species; Danish antimicrobial consumption estimates were assembled from Danish Integrated Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Research Programme reports. A decrease in antimicrobial consumption in milligrams per kilogram of biomass was observed for both countries (4.5% in Denmark and 34.7% in Switzerland) when comparing 2013 to 2007. For pigs and cattle, the overall consumption per kilogram of biomass of most antimicrobial classes was higher in Switzerland than in Denmark. Large variations in the relative consumption of different antimicrobial classes were also evident. Sulfonamides/trimethoprim and tetracyclines were consumed in a higher proportion in Switzerland than in Denmark, whereas the relative consumption of penicillins was higher in Denmark. The differences observed in veterinary antimicrobial consumption are not solely related to animal demographic characteristics in these two countries. Other factors, such as the level of biosecurity and farming practices, veterinarians and farmers' education, or governmental/industry programs put in place might also partly explain these variations. These differences should be taken into account when aiming to implement targeted interventions to reduce antimicrobial consumption

AntibioticScout.ch: Entscheidungshilfe für den umsichtigen Einsatz von antimikrobiellen Wirkstoffen: Anwendung beim Rind

The administration of antibiotics in livestock has been criticized for many years, in particular because of an inappropriate use and the appearance of antibiotic residues in the environment, which can promote the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria. However, antibiotics are essential for the successful and sustainable control of bacterial pathogens. With the aim of optimizing the use of antibiotics in food animals and minimizing the prevalence of resistant bacteria, AntibioticScout. ch provides a decision aid for the prudent use of antimicrobial drugs. This approach emphasizes the importance of supportive therapy and the hallmarks of preventive concepts. Procedures to improve animal health and animal welfare in accordance with the principles of good veterinary practice are primary and effective tools to reduce the use of antimicrobial drugs. The necessary reduction in the use of antibiotics must, therefore, be accompanied by appropriate management strategies in animal husbandry. In particular, hygiene, animal welfare and biosecurity measures are crucial to ensure an optimal health status in farm animals

Vigilance der Tierarzneimittel: Gemeldete unerwünschte Wirkungen im Jahr 2016

A total of 253 reports of adverse reactions to veterinary medicinal products were received during the year 2016 representing a decrease of 13% compared to the previous year (292 reports). The majority of the reports described reactions affecting companion animals (178 dogs and 32 cats) as well as cattle (17 reports) and horses (10 reports). Most of the reactions reported were linked to the use of antiparasitics (145 reports), hormone products (26 reports) and antiinfectives (10 reports). 32 reports were generated from consultations with Tox Info Suisse in Zurich and involved mainly the excessive intake of flavoured tablets and, in some cases, the use of reconverted products (applied to another species than that authorized). Five signals were identified from the reports, which resulted in revisions of the product information in the sections addressing contraindications or adverse reactions

Therapieintensität beim Einsatz von Fütterungsarzneimitteln bei Schweinen

Die orale Verabreichung von Antibiotika an Tiergruppen ist anspruchsvoll. Jede Verschreibung für mehr als 20 zu behandelnde Schweine muss per Gesetz über ein amtliches Rezeptformular erfolgen. In dieser Arbeit wurde basierend auf den Angaben von 1’126 Formularen aus den Jahren 2010–2011 die therapeutische Intensität bei Ferkeln und Mastschweinen in Betrieben des Kantons Luzern ausgewertet. Diese Analyse zeigt, dass wichtige Grössen zur Berechnung häufig schwierig zu eruieren und, dass plausible Berechnungen teilweise nicht möglich sind. Insgesamt wurden 654 bzw. 424 kg Antibiotika in 2 Jahren verschrieben. Die entsprechenden medianen Intensitäten für 2010 und 2011 betrugen 43.5 und 32.5 behandelte Tiere pro 1000 Individuen an einem Stichtag (PIDvet) für Ferkel und 75.9 und 64.8 für Mastschweine. Für die ganze Population von Ferkeln und Mastschweinen wurden für die Verabreichung von in Futtermühlen hergestellten Fütterungsarzneimitteln im Jahr 2011 PIDvet-Werte von 37.51 resp. 84.44 berechne

Vigilance der Tierarzneimittel: Gemeldete unerwünschte Wirkungen im Jahr 2017

A total of 306 reports of adverse reactions to veterinary medicinal products were received during the year 2017 representing an increase of 21% compared to the previous year. The majority of these reports described reactions concerning companion animals (180 dogs and 59 cats) as well as cattle (38 reports) and horses (14 reports). Most of the reported reactions were linked to the use of antiparasitics (158 reports), hormone products (30 reports) and anti-inflammatory products (25 reports). 40 reports were generated from consultations with Tox Info Suisse in Zürich and mainly involved the excessive intake of flavoured tablets and, in some cases, the use of products under the cascade regulation (applied to another species than that authorized). Nine signals were identified from the reports, resulting in revisions of the product information in the sections addressing contra-indications or adverse reactions

Vigilance der Tierarzneimittel: Gemeldete unerwünschte Wirkungen im Jahr 2015

Im Jahr 2015 wurden 292 Meldungen über unerwünschte Wirkungen eingereicht. Gegenüber dem Vorjahr (268 Meldungen) entspricht dies einer Zunahme von 9%. Wie in früheren Jahren betraf die Mehrheit der Meldungen Antiparasitika (55.1%), gefolgt von nicht-steroidalen Entzündungshemmern (8.9%) und Antiinfektiva (8.2%). Am häufigsten wurden Meldungen zu Reaktionen bei Hunden (198) und Katzen (42) eingereicht, danach folgten Rinder und Kälber (31) sowie Pferde (8). Zusätzliche 42 Fälle, die von Tox Info Suisse in Zürich übermittelt wurden, betrafen mehrheitlich die Aufnahme aromatisierter Tabletten in Überdosis. Von den 292 Meldungen und eingereichten periodischen Berichten über die Sicherheit wurden 8 Signale identifiziert, die zu einer Anpassung der Arzneimittelinformation der betroffenen Präparate in den Rubriken unerwünschte Wirkungen, Kontraindikationen oder Absetzfristen führten