The guidance recommends that all pig owners review their antibiotic usage, whether or not they are quality assured.

Produced to help vets and farmers review their antibiotic use

A review containing guidance to the use of antibiotics on pig farms has been published by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

Produced jointly by the Pig Health and Welfare Council (PHWC) and the Pig Veterinary Society (PVS), the guidance aims to help vets and farmers review their antibiotic use regularly. It also considers ways in which this could be optimised without harming pigs.

The guidance recommends that all pig owners review their antibiotic usage, whether or not they are quality assured, and that ideally the review should be taken at least quarterly.

It states that it may be necessary to undertake further investigation on a farm where the review has highlighted a problem, such as reduced efficacy of an existing treatment, or an increase in clinical disease from a previously controlled situation.

Following discussion with the owner and farm manager of the findings, all recommendations should then be given to the pig keeper in writing in a Veterinary Health Plan or a report appended to the VHP. This should detail the antibiotic to be used, the dose rate, route of administration and the withdrawal period for the product.

PVS representative Grace Webster said: "We acknowledge that many vets and farmers are already applying these best practice guidelines in their review of antibiotic usage. This is an integral part of their ongoing efforts to use antibiotics 'as little as possible and as much as necessary' to safeguard the health and welfare of the pigs under their care and encourage all of our members to consider whether they can improve their current approach."

PHWC Council chairman John Fitzgerald added: "The PHWC supports the responsive use of antibiotics. This means minimising the need to use antibiotic by managing the farm to reduce the risk of disease challenge and using them properly to maintain health and welfare."

The guidance is available at: http://pork.ahdb.org.uk