Report links antibiotic use and resistance
Overall, the report says the use of antibiotics is higher in food-producing animals than humans, but this varies depending on the country and type of antibiotic.
A new European report confirms the link between antibiotic consumption and antibiotic resistance in both humans and animals. It also shows the UK use of antibiotics in farm animals is low compared to many other European countries.
The report is the second of its kind and has been published by the European Centre for Disease Control, the European Food Safety Authority and the European Medicines Agency.
Overall, it says the use of antibiotics is higher in food-producing animals than humans, but this varies depending on the country and type of antibiotic.
Polymyxins, a class of antibiotics that includes colistin, are used widely in the veterinary sector and is being used increasingly in hospitals to treat multi-drug-resistant infections, the report says.
However, third and fourth generation cephalosporins and quinolones - which are considered critically important for human health - are used more often in humans than animals.
Resistance to quinolones (which are used to treat salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis in humans) is associated with the use of antibiotics in animals, according to the report. The use of third and fourth generation cephalosporins for infections caused by E. coli and other bacteria in humans is associated with resistance to these antibiotics in E. coli found in humans.
The secretary-general of RUMA, John Fitzgerald, welcomed the report but said the situation is likely to change rapidly as awareness increases.
“The UK’s most recent Veterinary Antimicrobials Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) report on 2015 sales data saw a 10% drop in antibiotics sales into food-producing animals compared with the previous year,” he said.
“This, alongside significant reported reductions in usage in the poultry and pig sectors – released via the recent British Poultry Council Stewardship Report and AHDB’s e-Medicine Book data – will have changed the picture again.”
Mr Fitzgerald said each local situation in each country needs its own multifaceted approach to dealing with antibiotic resistance.
“There has been a tendency for critics to promote alternative farming systems or demand blanket implementation of rules in other countries, when what we actually need is to reduce use in a sustainable way that safeguards animal welfare,” he added.
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
