Antibiotic drug usage in pigs in Germany—Are the class profiles changing?

The development of antimicrobial resistance is triggered by the use of antibiotic drugs. Therefore, the consumption of antibiotics in livestock is monitored, and different measures may be applied if the usage of antibiotic drugs seems inappropriate. Unfortunately, the surveillance of antibiotic consumption is not standardised, and surveillance systems differ. In Germany, the food quality assurance system QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH (QS) began the documentation of antibiotic drug usage in pigs in 2012 in a private economic based database, and for its members, documentation has been mandatory in all pig age groups since 2014. In this investigation, we calculated the distribution of the antibiotics use per pig age group and half-year, and the percentage of the active substances used from overall treatments within German pig holdings from 1 July, 2013 to 30 June, 2015. In fattening pigs, the median of the treatment frequency is 4.3 in 2013–2 and exhibits a decreasing trend in this time period up to 2.1 in 2015–1. In weaners the median ranged between 11.3 in 2014–2 and 5.8 in 2013–2. The median of sucklers varies between 21.6 and 25.0. In sucklers and weaners, a clear temporal trend is not seen to date. The share of the active substances differs between the age groups. In fattening pigs, mostly tetracyclines and penicillines were used, occurring in approximately 60% of the total treatments. In weaners, amoxicillin and colistin have the highest shares of the treatment frequency, at approximately 60%. The treatment frequencies of macrolides and penicillines have the highest share in sucklers.