“Closely measure and monitor antibiotic use in new online tool”

“Veterinary researchers at the University of Nottingham have produced a new tool to help UK dairy vets and farmers monitor and reduce use of antibiotics in their dairy herds to help combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the farming industry and beyond. Here you can download the tool.

It follows a new study by the Nottingham Vet School showing that, in a large sample of dairy farms, 25 per cent of farms used 50 per cent of the total antibiotics used across all farms in a year – with antibiotic footbaths accounting for the biggest volume dispersed into the food chain. The study is published in the Veterinary Record.

Pathogenic bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a growing problem worldwide and with no new antibiotics developed for more than 30 years, global health leaders are calling for urgent action to reduce antibiotic use in agriculture as well as human medicine. Administering antibiotics to an animal increases the risk of bacteria acquiring resistance – potentially reducing the effect of treatments in the future.”

Source: AHDB

Know more on AMR? See ‘AMR in one day’ on 25 January, 2018