Too much, too often – the amount and frequency of antibiotics used in fattening livestock farming is too high. However, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment also sees a positive development.
In fattening livestock farming, a lot of antibiotics were used last year. Due to possible resistance and risks to public health, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is particularly critical of the use of so-called polypeptide antibiotics. “Further efforts are needed to further reduce this proportion,” says the BfR scientific report “Antibiotic consumption quantities and treatment frequency 2023”. The figures are not comparable with previous years due to a new calculation method, as the BfR writes.
Development of resistance
A total of 478 tonnes of antimicrobial agents were recorded, which are assigned to different classes of active ingredients. These include the so-called polypeptide antibiotics with 30 tonnes. They are among the antibiotics that are of crucial importance in human medicine and should therefore only be used to a limited extent in animals in view of the development of resistance.
Nevertheless, the BfR sees some positive developments. The resistance situation of E. coli bacteria in fattening pigs to some substances has improved significantly since 2015, the report states, referring to the antibiotics tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and cefotaxime. No increase in resistance has been observed for any substance. E. coli bacteria are found in the intestines of humans and animals. For the measurement, cecal samples are taken from slaughtered animals.
In fattening calves, a reduced resistance rate to the antibiotics azithromycin and sulfamethoxazole has been observed since 2015. There has also been no significant increase in resistance rates in these animals. For 2023, only data on fattening pigs and fattening calves were available. Data on fattening chickens and fattening turkeys should be available next year.
Relatively high levels of antibiotics in small piglets
In particular, suckling piglets – young piglets that are still to be suckled – are treated with antibiotics relatively frequently in some farms. However, a significant proportion of farms with suckling piglets get by with significantly lower antibiotic use – for the BfR an indication of considerable potential for improvement. Suckling piglets were included in the antibiotic minimization concept for the first time in 2023.
In Europe alone, tens of thousands of people die every year as a result of antibiotic resistance. This means that pathogenic bacteria can no longer be destroyed by an antibiotic. The excessive use of antibiotics in animal husbandry is considered to be one of the main causes of the emergence and spread of resistant pathogens.
BfR report
Source: Stern
