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Use of antibiotics has decreased and is now lower in food-producing animals than in humans, says the latest report published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Taking a One Health approach, the report presents data on antibiotic consumption and development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Europe for 2016-2018.
AMC in both sectors, expressed in mg/kg of estimated biomass, was compared at country and European level. Substantial variations in AMC between countries were observed in human and food animal sectors. In each year over the period 2016–2018, overall AMC was lower in food-producing animals (for example in 2017, 108.3 mg/kg, range 3.1–423.1) than in humans (for example in 2017, 130.0 mg/kg; range 52.8–212.6). This is the first time this situation has been reported since JIACRA analyses were initiated on 2011 data.
The significant fall in antibiotic use in food-producing animals suggests that the measures taken at country level to reduce use are proving to be effective. Use of a class of antibiotics called polymyxins, which includes colistin, nearly halved between 2016 and 2018 in food-producing animals. This is a positive development, as polymyxins are also used in hospitals to treat patients infected with multidrug-resistant bacteria.
The picture in the EU is diverse – the situation varies significantly by country and by antibiotic class. For example, aminopenicillins, 3rd- and 4th-generation cephalosporins and quinolones (fluoroquinolones and other quinolones) are used more in humans than in food-producing animals, while polymyxins (colistin) and tetracyclines are used more in food-producing animals than in humans.
The report also identifies links between antimicrobial consumption in animals and AMR in bacteria from food-producing animals, which in turn is associated with AMR in bacteria from humans. An example of this is Campylobacter spp. bacteria, which are found in food producing animals and cause foodborne infections in humans. Experts found an association between resistance in these bacteria in animals and resistance in the same bacteria in humans.
June 30, 2021/ ESFA/ European Union.
https://www.efsa.europa.eu
