Evaluation of veterinary antimicrobial benchmarking systems at farm level in Europe: implications for the UK ruminant sector
Date
2020-04-06
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Publisher
British Veterinary Association
Abstract
Background A number of European countries currently conduct mandatory farm- level benchmarking for
antimicrobial usage (AMU). This review describes the systems used, with emphasis on metric type and practical
implications.
Methods This report describes examples of four types of metrics used to measure AMU: count- based, massbased,
daily dose- based and course- based, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Results The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland use daily dose- based metrics to benchmark
AMU at farm- level, but each country diverges from the European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial
Consumption methodology in its own way, including how the population ‘at risk’ is calculated. Germany operates
a count- based system. Threshold AMU values have been speciied at farm- level in the Netherlands, Belgium
and Denmark, and action is required from producers to reduce AMU above these values. The Netherlands and
Belgium also benchmark veterinarians.
Conclusions For mixed species farms common in the UK and Ireland, splitting AMU by species is recommended.
It is also recommended that high priority critically important antimicrobials are benchmarked separately to other
antimicrobials. No one metric is optimum; however, for ruminant livestock a daily dose- based metric allows for
country- speciic adaptations which may allow a higher degree of precision at farm- level benchmarking in the UK
and Ireland.
Description
Publication history; Accepted - 15 March 2020; Published online - 6 April 2020
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Citation
Craig, A., Buijs, S. and Morrison, S. (2020) ‘Evaluation of veterinary antimicrobial benchmarking systems at farm‐level in Europe: implications for the UK ruminant sector’, Veterinary Record. Wiley. doi:10.1136/vr.105727