Pig producers in the United Kingdom have reduced the amount of antibiotics they give their animals by half over the past two years.
Latest figures from the eMB, the electronic medicine book, show the pig industry reduced antibiotic use in the U.K. by 28 percent in 2017, bringing the total reduction in two years to more than 50 percent.
The data from the eMB, which represents 87 percent of pigs slaughtered in the U.K., shows antibiotic use on pig farms dropped from 183 mg/PCU to 131 mg/PCU within 12 months. Mg/PCU, or milligrams per population correction unit, is a standard unit of measurement used to monitor antibiotic sales and use in Europe.
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The 2017 reduction means the pig industry has more than halved its antibiotic usage in the last two years, with the latest figure building on a 34 percent cut in use between 2015 and 2016.
The promising news comes just seven months after targets were announced by the Targets Task Force, set up by the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance, to reduce antibiotic use in the pig industry by more than 60 percent from 2015-20.
“This is a great industry effort with all parties fully engaged and determined to demonstrate responsible use of antibiotics in pigs,” said Mandy Nevel of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.
“We must keep up the momentum to reduce use further in order to achieve our target of 99 mg/PCU by 2020.”
