Reduction in antibiotic use in the animal sectors: What measures, what results, what prospects?

Abstract

Promoting responsible and prudent use of antibiotics is a key focus of international, European and national action plans to combat antibiotic resistance. Many recommendations and measures aim to reduce the use of antibiotics by reserving their use in cases where it is strictly necessary. In a "One Health" approach, the European Medicines Agency has established a categorization of antibiotics for veterinary use taking into account both the risk to human health and the needs for animal health. It is indeed particularly important to preserve antibiotics that are considered critically important for the treatment of bacterial diseases in humans.

Since 2011, national objectives have been defined in order to reduce the use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine in France. Initiatives taken by the animal sectors and the Ecoantibio plans have created a dynamic enabling to achieve these objectives. France is one of the European countries that has decreased the most the use of 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones in recent years. Also, the new European veterinary regulations provide a set of measures to better supervise and reduce the use of certain antibiotics in livestock farming.

Measuring and monitoring antimicrobial use helps promote prudent use of antibiotics and assess the effectiveness of actions carried out in this regard. This article presents different systems for measuring the use of antibiotics that have been developed by different actors in the fight against antibiotic resistance.