Cross-sectional study on antibiotic usage in pigs in Germany.

To be able to analyze the relationship between the level of resistance and the use of antimicrobials, it is necessary to collect detailed data on antimicrobial usage. For this reason, data on antimicrobial use on 495 pig farms from entire Germany were collected and analyzed. In Germany, each application and dispensing of medicines to food-producing animals is documented in detail obligatorily by the veterinarian. This information was collected retrospectively for the year 2011. The analyses undertook separate examinations on the age groups sow, piglet, weaner and fattening pig; both the route of administration and indication per active ingredient, and active ingredient class, were evaluated. In total, 20,374 kg of antimicrobial substances were used in the study population. Tetracyclines were used in highest amounts, followed by beta-lactams, trimethoprim-sulfonamides and macrolides. Concerning the frequency of using an active substance per animal, polypeptides were most commonly administered. In all age groups, respiratory infections were the main indication for using antimicrobials, followed by intestinal diseases in piglets, weaners and fattening pigs and diseases of reproductive organs in sows. Over a period of 100 days, the median number of treatment days with one antimicrobial substance for piglets was 15 days, for weaners about 6 days, for fattening pigs about 4 days and for sows about 1 day. A multifactorial ANOVA was conducted to investigate which factors are associated with the treatment frequency. The factors "veterinarian" and "age group" were related to the treatment frequency, just as the interaction between "veterinarian" and "farm size" as well as the interaction between "veterinarian" and "age group".

[Antibiotic usage and antibiotic sales in Germany in 2011--the situation of drug usage in veterinary medicine]. / Antibiotikaverbrauch und Antibiotikaverkauf in Deutschland im Jahr 2011--Zur Situation des Arzneimitteleinsatzes in der Veterinärmedizin.

To appreciate the significance of sales data of antibiotics, data on antibiotic consumption (which were collected for selected food-producing animals within the representative VetCAb pilot study in Germany in 2011) were extrapolated for the total German animal population, and subsequently compared to the antibiotic sales data, which were collected throughout Germany in 2011 for the first time and which were published by the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). The extrapolation was realized based on the average dosage and the number of treatment units determined in the VetCAb pilot project for each active ingredient and animal species. It was extrapolated that 1302 tons of antimicrobial substances were consumed for treating cattle, pigs and broilers--this amount is accompanied by the amount of 1706 tons sold for all animal species. In Germany, tetracyclines and beta-lactams are the most commonly used and sold antimicrobial drugs. In third place are the potentiated sulfonamide, in fourth and fifth place, macrolides and polypeptides. To describe and evaluate the antibiotic usage for the several food-producing animals, detailed information is needed. Therefore, the number of treatments per active ingredient per animal and per day (treatment unit), and the number of treatment days per active ingredient per animal (treatment frequency) were calculated in the VetCAb project. These values represent scientifically collected orientation values for the treatment frequency of food-producing animal with antimicrobial substances in Germany. For example, a fattening pig is treated at 4.2 days (median) with one active ingredient within its 115-day fattening period. A dairy cow is treated at 3.5 days with one active ingredient within one year. A broiler is treated at 10 days with one active ingredient within its 39-day production period.