Quantitative risk model to estimate the level of antimicrobial residues that can be transferred to soil via manure, due to oral treatments of pigs.

Veterinary antimicrobials can spread via manure onto agricultural fields, representing an emission of these products or their active metabolites into the environment. This causes concerns regarding the role of antimicrobial residues in the development, selection and spread of resistance. Aiming to approach this issue quantitatively, first a literature review was performed on the bioavailability and extent of in vivo biotransformation of twelve antimicrobials commonly used in pigs orally, and on the level of their persistence in manure. This information was then used in a model estimating the level of each of these administered antimicrobials that is present in manure at the end of common storage durations in pits and, thus, readily applied onto soil. From the studied antimicrobials, the highest level of residues in stored manure was estimated for doxycycline (55% of the initial amount of doxycycline administered orally to pigs after six months of manure storage), as a combining result of its high use in pigs, low bioavailability and high stability in manure. Other antimicrobials (e.g. amoxicillin) are readily degraded and therefore pose less threat. The results of this study highlight the importance of rational antimicrobial use and of further research on pharmacokinetics of antimicrobials and their degraded products in different environmental compartments, to efficiently control the spread of residues and/or resistance genes from manure to these matrices.

Review of transmission routes of 24 infectious diseases preventable by biosecurity measures and comparison of the implementation of these measures in pig herds in six European countries.

This study aimed to review the transmission routes of important infectious pig diseases and to translate these into biosecurity measures preventing or reducing the transmission between and within pig herds. Furthermore, it aimed to identify the level of implementation of these measures in different European countries and discuss the observed variations to identify potentials for improvement. First, a literature review was performed to show which direct and indirect transmission routes of 24 infectious pig diseases can be prevented through different biosecurity measures. Second, a quantitative analysis was performed using the Biocheck.UGent™, a risk-based scoring system to evaluate biosecurity in pig herds, to obtain an insight into the implementation of these biosecurity measures. The database contained farm-specific biosecurity data from 574 pig farms in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, entered between January 2014 and January 2016. Third, a qualitative analysis based on a review of literature and other relevant information resources was performed for every subcategory of internal and external biosecurity in the Biocheck.UGent™ questionnaire. The quantitative analysis indicated that at the level of internal, external and overall biosecurity, Denmark had a significantly distinct profile with higher external biosecurity scores and less variation than the rest of the countries. This is likely due to a widely used specific pathogen-free (SPF) system with extensive focus on biosecurity since 1971 in Denmark. However, the observed pattern may also be attributed to differences in data collection methods. The qualitative analysis identified differences in applied policies, legislation, disease status, pig farm density, farming culture and habits between countries that can be used for shaping country-specific biosecurity advice to attain improved prevention and control of important pig diseases in European pig farms.

Microbiological Zoonotic Emerging Risks, Transmitted Between Livestock Animals and Humans (2007-2015).

As part of the Emerging Risk Identification (ERI) activities of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), a literature search was conducted to identify the microbiological agents transmitted between livestock animals and humans that have been suggested as having emerged between 2007 and 2015 in peer-reviewed scientific literature published during the same period (2007-2015). According to the criteria set, the search identified seven such zoonotic agents, namely West Nile Fever virus, Rift Valley Fever virus, Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever virus, Influenza A H1N1 virus, Coxiella burnetii, Streptococcus suis and livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clonal complex 398. An explanation of the agents' consideration as emerging risks is provided. The experience gained from these emergences has shown that the detection of and response to such risks can be achieved faster and more successfully within a multidisciplinary, collaborative context at the field, local, national and international levels.