Download Antibiotics

Antibiotics – Guidance for RTA Assessors
Red Tractor assurance requires all farmers to use medicines responsibly when treating their
animals. This note provides a short summary of what is meant by responsible use of
antibiotics to help you while on farm
Responsible use means using medicines as little as possible and as much as necessary.
Definitions
Antibacterial compounds have a direct action on bacteria, reducing or inhibiting their
growth or killing them completely.
Antibiotic is the same as anti-bacterial.
Antibiotic resistance is the ability of a micro-organism to grow or survive in the presence of
an antibiotic that is usually sufficient to inhibit or kill micro-organisms of the same species.
Antimicrobial is the general term for any compound with a direct action on micro-organisms
used for treatment or prevention of infections. Antimicrobials include a wide range of
compounds - anti-bacterials, anti-virals, anti-fungals and anti-protozoals.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is resistance to any compound with a direct action on
micro-organisms used for treatment or prevention of infections.
Responsible Use of Antibiotics in Farming

Like all medicines for people and animals, antibiotics in farming should be used
responsibly, which means:
 Use as little as possible - farms should be managed so that the risk of disease
developing is minimised. Good husbandry practices such as good hygiene,
well ventilated sheds, access to clean water, good bio-security controls and
good farm health planning, including appropriate vaccination strategies, will
all help to reduce the disease challenge.
 Use as much as necessary - when animals become ill they should be treated
in accordance with instructions on the label and from the farm’s veterinary
surgeon.

Antibiotics should be used only as prescribed by the farm’s veterinary surgeon.

The full course of antibiotic treatment should be given.
How is responsible use of antibiotics promoted?


By RUMA and its members through its guidelines for farmers and vets which are
available free on the RUMA website (www.ruma.org.uk).
Antibiotics should only be prescribed by veterinary surgeons who should continue to
be allowed to dispense them.

Companies are being encouraged to develop new antibiotics and alternatives to
antibiotics for veterinary use.

Across the EU, Member States are being encouraged and helped to produce
responsible use guidelines relevant to their national farming practices.

Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) provides the model for
the European Platform for the Responsible Use of Medicines in Animals (EPRUMA)
which is ideally placed to help develop future guidelines in the EU.
How can farmers and vets get advice on the responsible use of antibiotics?


RUMA guidelines on the responsible use of antibiotics and antimicrobials stress the
need for good farm management and disease prevention strategies to minimise the
risk of disease.

RUMA encourages the proper treatment of all animals that become ill.
exists to promote the responsible use of medicines in agriculture and provides
free guidance to farmers and vets on the responsible and effective use of medicines in
agriculture.
RUMA’s guidelines are available free at www.ruma.org.uk.
Additional guidance on prescribing for veterinary surgeons is available at www.bva.org.uk.
Antibiotic Resistance and Why it Matters to Human and Animal Health
Antibiotic resistance is the ability of a micro-organism to grow or survive in the presence of
an antibiotic that is usually sufficient to inhibit or kill micro-organisms of the same species.
Why is antibiotic resistance important to human and animal health?

The UK’s Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, said “antibiotic resistance is one
of the greatest threats to modern health and we face a future without cures for
infection if antibiotics are not used responsibly” in her annual report published in
March 2013.

Antibiotic resistance makes treating infectious bacterial diseases in humans and
animals harder to treat with antibiotics.

Bacteria have been developing resistance to antibiotics for millions of years.

There is an emerging clinical crisis in human medicine because antibiotic resistance is
making infectious bacterial disease harder to treat with antibiotics.

Since the development of medicines to treat bacterial infections, resistance has
developed as bacteria have been challenged and fight to survive.
How does antibiotic resistance develop?

Antibiotic resistance is complex since resistance factors can be transmitted to the
next generation of microbes, and even sometimes transfer to different species of
microbes.

Resistant microbes can spread between species including animals to humans and
vice versa.

Scientific evidence increasingly recognises that the problem of antibiotic resistance
in humans comes largely from the use of antibiotics in human medicine.
(See Point 2.1, page 8 Department of Health UK 5 Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy
2013 to 2018. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-5-year-antimicrobialresistance-strategy-2013-to-2018)
What’s the cause of antibiotic resistance in humans and how can it be controlled?

The consensus amongst experts is that the main cause of antibiotic resistance in
humans is the overuse and/or inappropriate use of antibiotics in human medicine.

Inappropriate use of antibiotics could include prescribing antibiotics for viral
infections such as flu and cold where they have no effect on the virus, not
completing a course of antibiotic treatment, or prescribing the wrong antibiotic for
the bacteria involved.
Can antibiotic use in animals cause antibiotic resistance in humans?

Yes if resistant bacteria transfer from animals to humans in food, by direct animal
contact or in the environment. However, there is a growing consensus that
antibiotic resistance in humans is caused mainly by the use of, or inappropriate use
of, antibiotics in humans.

Previous restrictions in certain EU countries on the use of antibiotics in animals have
not always led to reductions in antibiotic resistance in humans.

Antibiotic resistance in humans and animals is often measured differently so
comparisons of resistance levels are difficult.
Changes in Legislative Controls
The European Commission is considering what, if any, changes to make to the Veterinary
Medicines Directive (2001/82) and the Medicated Feed Additives Directive (90/167) to
reduce any risks to human treatment. The European Commission’s review of the veterinary
medicines legislation expected in the third quarter of 2014 will include proposals to help
control antimicrobial resistance.
In the meantime and in anticipation of possible changes in legislation, the Veterinary Medicines
Directorate (VMD) is undertaking a project to look at options for collecting more accurate data
on the usage of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine in all animal species across the UK.
The objective is to come up with an initial set of principle-based options by mid-2014 for
consideration by the VMD executive. More detailed work and analysis will follow that. Some
other European Member States have already developed systems for collecting usage data.
Changes to Red Tractor Standards 2014
There are new requirements for all RTA livestock sectors (see below) but the different
sectors are implementing this in their own unique ways.
Brief details of the changes to the standards effective from 1st October 2014 are:

Beef & Lamb
Annual vet visit to include a discussion of antibiotic use

Dairy
Herd health and performance review by the vet to include review of antibiotic
purchase and use

Pigs
Veterinary Health plan to include an annual collation of total antibiotics used
(including in feed medication) and this use to be reviewed by the vet

Chickens
Medicines records to include an annual collation of total antibiotics used (mg
active/kg LWt)
Standard on restriction of use of certain antibiotics at certain times during the
production cycle (fluoroquinolones, cephalosporins)
Challenges for the industry
Despite using the broader term antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the European Commission,
European Parliament, Member State Governments, the World Health Organisation (WHO)
and The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are primarily concerned about the
efficacy of antibiotics to treat humans and whether the use of antibiotics in animals
increases the risk of untreatable resistant bacteria in humans.
The use of antibiotics in agriculture in the UK and EU is also being challenged by a number of
individuals (including MPs) and organisations such as CIWF and Soil Association etc