Antimicrobial Resistance and Antibiotics Usage in Livestock: Why Prevention Must Start on the Farm

Antimicrobial resistance is a generally recognized threat to public health. Usage of antibiotics unavoidably leads to development and spread of antimicrobial resistance. This is the generally believed assumption. This multi-author book addresses the question how antibiotics can be applied to combat infections in livestock, while minimizing the build-up of resistance. This information is not only essential for veterinarians and farmers, but also for policymakers and law enforcement agencies in the agricultural sector.

The main message of this book is that with well-designed measures and optimal strategies for application, antibiotics can be used with reduced collateral damage in the form of antimicrobial resistance. All authors are experts on the different aspects of antimicrobials in the framework of veterinary applications. The various chapters review the state-of-the-art on reduction of usage, the consequences for the environment, driving factors for development and spreading, and the legal aspects of antimicrobials in the framework of food production. Overall, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the scientific opinions on antimicrobial resistance in the veterinary sector.

In addition to summarizing the science, this book also provides practical and implementable suggestions for veterinarians and others involved in raising livestock to improve daily practice in order to prevent unnecessary selection of resistance. In countries where these principles of good practice are applied the resistance of livestock related microorganisms has stabilized and sometime even decreased over the years. This is an important message to spread globally, because if it is applied worldwide, antimicrobials will remains the reliable tool for healthcare that the have been in the past decades.