Consumption of Antimicrobials in Pigs, Veal Calves, and Broilers in The Netherlands: Quantitative Results of Nationwide Collection of Data in 2011

In 2011, Dutch animal production sectors started recording veterinary antimicrobial consumption. These data are used by the Netherlands Veterinary Medicines Authority to create transparency in and define benchmark indicators for veterinary consumption of antimicrobials. This paper presents the results of sector wide consumption of antimicrobials, in the form of prescriptions or deliveries, for all pig, veal calf, and broiler farms. Data were used to calculate animal defined daily dosages per year (ADDD/Y) per pig or veal calf farm. For broiler farms, number of animal treatment days per year was calculated. Furthermore, data were used to calculate the consumption of specific antimicrobial classes per administration route per pig or veal calf farm. The distribution of antimicrobial consumption per farm varied greatly within and between farm categories. All categories, except for rosé starter farms, showed a highly right skewed distribution with a long tail. Median ADDD/Y values varied from 1.2 ADDD/Y for rosé finisher farms to 83.2 ADDD/Y for rosé starter farms, with 28.6 ADDD/Y for white veal calf farms. Median consumption in pig farms was 9.3 ADDD/Y for production pig farms and 3.0 ADDD/Y for slaughter pig farms. Median consumption in broiler farms was 20.9 ATD/Y. Regarding specific antimicrobial classes, fluoroquinolones were mainly used on veal calf farms, but in low quantities: P75 range was 0 - 0.99 ADDD/Y, and 0 - 0.04 ADDD/Y in pig farms. The P75 range for 3(rd)/4(th)-generation cephalosporins was 0 - 0.07 ADDD/Y for veal calf farms, and 0 - 0.1 ADDD/Y for pig farms. The insights obtained from these results, and the full transparency obtained by monitoring antimicrobial consumption per farm, will help reduce antimicrobial consumption and endorse antimicrobial stewardship. The wide and skewed distribution in consumption has important practical and methodological implications for benchmarking, surveillance and future analysis of trends.