USDA to Collaborate with Several Partners to Study Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Animal Health Context

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has begun a new collaborative effort to study antimicrobial use and resistance on commercial swine farms in the Midwest. The work will focus on use and resistance related to animal health and production-related indicators. APHIS is partnering with several animal health and industry organizations on this study. This collaboration could serve as a model for future studies to monitor antimicrobial use and resistance. 

The farms taking part in the study are clients of Pipestone Veterinary Services. As a service to their clients, Pipestone began collecting data on antimicrobial use several years ago. The company recently started sampling for antimicrobial resistance in selected pig and food safety-related pathogens. The Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory at South Dakota State University performs analysis and contributes expertise in bacterial isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing for the project. Working with their clients’ approval, Pipestone will share their collected anonymized data with APHIS’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) for more analysis and interpretation in the context of factors related to management and disease pressure. APHIS aims to provide the initial results from its analysis sometime in 2022.