Producers advised to cut antibiotic use

Poultry producers are likely to come under increasing pressure to reduce antibiotic use, as retailer and political pressure lead to changes in industry practice.

The Dutch government recently set a target of cutting antibiotics by 50% by 2013 from their 2009 levels, Keith Warner of the Minster Veterinary Practice told the recent Poultry Meat Conference at Stoneleigh, and France had made similar statements.

“In the first half of 2012, Denmark will also hold the presidency of the European Union and it is set to prioritise the battle against anti-microbial resistance,” he warned.

The expectation was that the Danish would first seek to introduce a surveillance programme, followed up with an antibiotic reduction programme for both human and animal use. “I expect that they will set some limits, and I fear this will be in the form of milligrams of antibiotic per kilogramme of meat.”

Such an approach was “flawed”, said Mr Warner, and could result in producers opting for inappropriate antibiotics, or going for reduced dosage/reduced treatment periods. This could have a negative impact both on their birds and in terms of anti-microbial resistance in humans.

But given that continued pressure to reduce the use of antibiotics was inevitable, poultry producers should look closely at other options, he suggested. “We need to challenge the drivers that make us consider picking up that pot of antibiotics.”

There was always scope for improved management practices, such as heating and ventilation, general hygiene and nutrition.

It was also essential to correctly interpret any behavioural or environmental changes. Wheat flicking need not mean the birds were suffering from enteritis, he said, and similarly wet litter could be the result of some other condition such as infectious bronchitis.

“Treating with antibiotics in this case would be inappropriate,” he said.

Mr Warner also believed geneticists should be challenged to develop birds that were more robust. “Geneticists have already shown that there is tremendous potential to drive various factors through selective breeding,” he said.

There were also alternative products that could provide solutions in the future, such as novel vaccines, autogenous vaccines, competitive exclusion products potentially through the egg, and “neutraceuticals” such as yeast cell wall extracts and herbal ingredients.