UK Poultry Industry Celebrates Progress in Antibiotic Stewardship

In the last decade, the UK poultry industry has reported significant gains in striving for better bird health and welfare that uses antibiotics responsibly in order to protect their long-term effectiveness.

The British Poultry Council (BPC) report states that since 2012, the BPC Antibiotic Stewardship has helped attain;

• 74.2% reduction in the total use of antibiotics
• 95.5% reduction in the use of critically important antibiotics
• 97.2% reduction in the use of fluroquinolones

The UK are in strong support of taking action to ensure antibiotics remain effective for future generations and curbing the growth of antimicrobial resistance. To achieve these reported results, the poultry industry have stopped administering antibiotics as a preventative treatment and antibiotics that are deemed ‘critically important’ to humans are only given when other treatments have not worked, this applies to chickens, turkeys and ducks.

The British poultry industry has been the first sector to follow this strategy (so far) and has led the way in an effort to help develop a strategy for others to follow. With a particular note on the turkey sector, a huge effort has been made to reduce the use of antibiotics. Critically Important Antibiotics usage in turkeys has dropped to 25.7 mg/pcu – approximately 50% lower than the RUMA species- specific target. This is an 88.2% reduction since 2014 and specifically highlights the commitment the industry has made.

Tackling AMR is an issue recognised by governments and regulatory bodies globally with a range of policies and guidelines formed in response to the issue. This announcement from the British poultry industry illustrates the dedication and subsequent success of the efforts made in the UK to tackle this issue and it is hoped that other industries will follow this plan.

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