Antimicrobial use on Italian Pig Farms and its Relationship with Husbandry Practices

Quantifying antimicrobial use (AMU) in livestock using dose-based methods is useful for identifying potential risk factors related to AMU and to promote responsible AMU. Herewith, we investigated the temporal patterns and effects of several structural and management factors on AMU in a sample of pig farms in northern Italy during a period of three years. Overall, AMU showed a large variability between farms and no significantly decreasing trend. However, in several farms, a significant AMU reduction of up to two-thirds was observed. Farm size, number of farm workers, air quality, average pig mortality, and presence of pigs with undocked tails on the farm had no significant effect on AMU, whereas higher welfare standards were significantly associated with lower AMU