Risk factors for oral antimicrobial consumption in Swiss fattening pig farms – a case –control study

Background:
Antimicrobial consumption in veterinary medicine is of great importance. Increased awareness by the
public and media has led to demands for decreased use of antimicrobials in pigs. This study aimed to identify risk
factors for regular oral antimicrobial consumption in Swiss fattening pig farms, and to quantify the amount of
antimicrobial active substances administered orally to pigs at the farm level.
Results:
A case
–
control study was performed on 99 fattening farms between May 2014 and January 2015.
Seventy-two case farms (with oral group treatment of ant
imicrobials in at least 50 % of pigs) and 27 control farms
(with no regular oral group treatment) were visited once
during the study. Data about potential risk factors and
antimicrobial consumption were collected by questionnaire. Antimicrobial consumption was recorded and
treatment incidence (TI) was calculated for all farms ov
er a one year period. Sulphonamides and tetracyclines
were the antimicrobials consumed in the greatest quantity. The median TI for oral antimicrobial use in the case
group was 224.7. In the control group, the median TI was 0 for oral antimicrobial use, with values ranging from 0
to 140.1. In a multivariable regression model, seven risk fac
tors associated with regular oral antimicrobial group
treatment were identified: mixing pigs from different s
uppliers within the same pen, absence of a work protocol
that ensures treating of healthy pigs before sick pigs, distance to next pig farm < 500 metres, external analysis of
production parameters, no availability of dirty visitor boots, the farmer not working on other farms, and no
application of homoeopathic agents.
Conclusions:
The results of this study point out the importance of increasing farmers
’
awareness of good
farming practices and biosecurity. Important recommend
ations for decreasing oral antimicrobial consumption
identified by this study include avoiding mixing pigs from different suppliers in the same pen and strictly
handling sick pigs after healthy ones. Improvements in these areas could enhance the overall health of pigs and
thereby reduce the consumption of antimicrobials on pig farms.