How prudent is antibiotic use in the poultry industry?

The Third International Conference on Responsible Use of Antibiotics in Animals took place in Amsterdam in late September and early October 2014.

As part of the event, Dr. Vincent Guyonnet, scientific adviser to the International Egg Commission, looked at what needs to happen within poultry production, and reviewed the sector’s activities to date in confronting the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

He looked in particular at four broad categories: capacity building and awareness programs, setting industry guidelines and codes of practice, the development of internal evaluation processes, and co-operation and partnership.

The prudent use of antibiotics in poultry or other production animals in general is outlined in three key documents – Chapter 6.9 of the of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, the Codex Alimentarius Recommended Code of Practice to minimize and contain antimicrobial resistance, published in 2005, and the World Health Organization report of a joint consultation with the FAO and the OIE on Global principles for the containment of antimicrobial resistance in animals intended for food, published in 2000.

These three documents, Guyonnet explained, outline the role of various players, including the regulatory authorities, the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, the animal health products wholesale and distribution channel, the veterinarian, as well as food animal producers. In the case of the poultry industry, however, the role of other players such as feed mills and hatcheries also needs to be considered.

Capacity building

Capacity building, or training, is a key step toward judicious use of antibiotics in poultry production. In poultry, antibiotics can be administered in ovo, via feed, in drinking water, as well as by injection. Therefore, any training activities must include all parties involved: producers, hatcheries, feed mills and veterinarians.

In addressing prudent use, any training initiative also must emphasize the need to follow correct management practices, which are key to ensuring that birds will stay healthy and that antibiotic treatments are not used as a substitute for good management.

Awareness programs also need to target consumers, as they need to understand that antibiotics are important production tools that must sometimes be used to ensure the health and well-being of poultry.

While the development of training materials is important, Guyonnet said, the means and manner of delivery are critical to the implementation of new procedures and practices. A training program will only be effective if it provides the right information in the right manner, appropriate to the target audience.

In some countries, for example South Africa, the needs of small poultry producers also need to be addressed. In South Africa, the challenge harder as support needs to be provided in the country’s 11 official languages. In neighboring Zimbabwe, the primary challenge is to reach out to country’s 20,000 small commercial producers.

Guidelines, codes of practice

After capacity building, establishing industry guidelines and codes of practice is an important step toward ensuring the prudent use of antibiotics in poultry.

In the U.K., the British Egg Industry Council and the British Poultry Council, which represent egg and broiler producers, respectively, belong to RUMA – the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance - a nonprofit organization set up in 1997 by organizations interested in promoting standards for food safety, animal health and welfare in the U.K. livestock sector.

The RUMA guidelines covering the poultry sector were first issued in 1999 and revised in 2005. In Responsible use of antimicrobials in poultry production, the responsibilities of veterinarians and poultry producers are outlined with, for instance, 13 specific items that producers should follow, such as giving medication only with formal veterinary approval, always completing the treatment course at the correct dosage, accurately recording the identity of the treated flock, complying with withdrawal periods, and maintaining a medicines log book.

Antibiotics must not be a substitute for good management, and a number of national poultry organizations have developed management codes of practice. For example, the South African Poultry Association has codes for broilers, layers, and breeders and hatcheries. In addition to good practice for optimum health and performance, the codes cover the judicious use of antimicrobials and include 13 principles to be followed by producers and veterinarians.

In addition to prudent use and good practice codes, biosecurity is essential. An example of an initiative to improve biosecurity is the Australian Chicken Meat Federation manual, the result of a joint initiative between Australia’s various chicken meat organizations, the animal health sector, academia and government.

The industry achieves biosecurity through a series of standards covering the facilities where birds are kept, the personnel and the operational procedures on the farm. Clear objectives have been set, and forms have been designed to help farmers’ compliance.

Monitoring

But without enforcement and monitoring, standards quickly become irrelevant, Guyonnet said. The organization representing Canada’s 2,700 chicken farmers, Chicken Farmers of Canada, introduced in 1998 a program called On-Farm Food Safety Assurance Program (OFFSAP), designed to ensure that broiler producers meet the food safety and animal care levels expected by regulators and consumers.

It identifies 10 key elements, including on-farm use of medicines and chemicals. The program is also based on the HACCP principles and, as such, some Critical Control Points have been defined, namely on-farm feed mixing, feed receiving, and medication use and withdrawal.

Stringent record-keeping is an important part of on-farm food safety and, under OFFSAP, farmers must notify, a few days before sending the birds for processing, complete details of the flock, including of any vaccines or medications used. In addition to the self-audit conducted by each farmer, Chicken Farmers of Canada requires that each farm undergo third-party auditing annually.

In addition to on-farm audits, routine and random testing programs are an important addition to prudent antibiotic use evaluation. For example, the Agriculture and Food National Residue Survey was initiated by the Australian government in the early 1960s, and became industry funded in 1992. The livestock sector, including broiler and egg producers, funds the residue-monitoring program through levies and direct payments.

The program helps to ensure that good agricultural practices are followed and allows certification for export. Transparency and accountability are extremely important to the private sector organizations as they guarantee trust, so ensuring sustainability of production and trade. In this Australian initiative, the National Residue Survey is posted on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website, with details of the tests and results for poultry and eggs.

Some poultry organizations have gone further in evaluating their practices for judicious use of antimicrobials and have looked at benchmarking. In 2011, the Australian Chicken Meat Federation commissioned a review of the principles of judicious antimicrobial use in poultry. The exercise identified 12 sets of guidelines from various organizations and then identified and defined principles dealing with areas including the pre-treatment period, diagnosis, therapeutic objective, drug selection, drug use, and post-treatment considerations.

Working together

The fourth type of activity carried out by the poultry industry involves cooperation and partnership with various players.

Cooperation with governments is critical for new regulations and their practical implications, and numerous national poultry organizations are mandated to consult with regulatory authorities. Codes of practice and auditing schemes are also the result of a joint approach, where governments are often invited to participate and provide input. Joining forces provides better outcomes, as it takes into account the views of all parties.

In several countries, however, expertise really lies within private industry, not government. To remedy this gap, the South African Poultry Association, for example, in partnership with a local university, funds the training of state veterinarians.

Another form of partnership is where all livestock farmers, along with other partners, work together to achieve the same goals. RUMA, in the U.K., is a good example of such cooperation. The 23 organizations adhering to RUMA subscribe to the same eight main goals, all geared toward communicating and implementing animal medicine best practice. The alliance also stresses the importance of traceability, transparency and accountability at all stages of the food chain.

Investment

It is important to remember that national poultry organizations have and will continue to play a proactive role in ensuring the judicious use of antibiotics in poultry production, and invest time and money in the search for alternatives to antibiotics.

For example, the 4,500 farmers involved in poultry invest CAN$500,000 (US$438,538) each year in research through the Canadian Poultry Research Council, which has, as one of its goals, development of alternatives to antibiotics.

In the U.K., the poultry industry has developed a strategic plan for health and welfare, identifying priorities covering areas such as management practices, the control of diseases for which there are no therapeutic interventions, and antimicrobial availability, usage and resistance. Its plan was posted on the internet and comment invited, ensuring visibility and encouraging feedback on proposed solutions.

Adopting alternatives

The poultry sector has developed and adopted several practices that have contributed to the reduction in use of antibiotics.

The general use of vaccination against major poultry diseases has contributed to the growth of the poultry sector around the world. For example, it is common for laying hens to receive up to 15 different vaccinations during the first 15 weeks of life, to ensure lasting immunity and protection throughout the production cycle.

Several countries have been successful in the eradication from their commercial flocks of important pathogens such as Salmonella pullorum and S gallinarium, therefore reducing considerably the incidence of the disease, economic losses and the need for treatment with antibiotics.

Considerable research  has been conducted and publications been made on alternative methods to antibiotics in poultry.

Collectively, there are a lot of training materials, standards and codes of practice, auditing and monitoring schemes that can be shared with countries and companies that have limited resources or opportunities to promote the judicious use of antibiotics in poultry. Prudent use of antibiotics by the poultry industry is not wishful thinking – it is a reality lived everyday on farms where farmers work and care for their birds.