Prudent and efficient use of antimicrobials in pigs and poultry.

25th November 2019
by secretary

Agrinatura News

One of Agriantura member institution Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) lead projects that produced a manual for reducing anitibiotic use in livestock.

Today SLU and FAO launched the manual “Prudent and efficient use of antimicrobials in pigs and poultry” at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome.

SLU was assigned to write the manual by FAO and the work has been led by professors Susanna Sternberg-Lewerin and Ulf Magnusson. They wrote the manual together with a working group of about ten international experts including Swedish expertise from the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the National Veterinary Institute.

The reason that SLU has been asked to lead the work on developing such a manual is because Sweden is a world leader in using small amounts of antibiotics and at the same time keep animals healthy and highly productive. The manual is not just about disease prevention but also about how to reduce antibiotic use through medically rational use. This includes for example not providing antibiotics for growth promotion, treat sick animals individually and avoid antibiotics that are critical important to human medicine. The manual is currently available in English only, but will be translated into all FAO official languages due to a growing interest.

This manual will contribute to addressing the challenge of AMR by promoting the prevention of infections and the prudent use of antibiotics in the pig and poultry sectors, the livestock sectors that generally have the highest use of antibiotics. It should be regarded as a practical complement to national governance and regulatory measures.

Read more about this event here or abstract here.