Antimicrobial stewardship — the responsible use of antibiotics to preserve their effectiveness — is both an animal welfare and public health priority. Over-reliance on antibiotics in livestock production has contributed to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), threatening the ability to treat infections in both animals and humans. Good stewardship requires using antibiotics appropriately — not avoiding them when needed for welfare.
The One Health Connection
Approximately 73% of global antimicrobial use occurs in food-producing animals. Resistance genes can transfer between animal and human bacteria through multiple pathways — direct contact, environment, and food chain. The development of resistance in livestock bacteria can select for resistance genes that subsequently transfer to human pathogens, reducing treatment options for serious human infections.
Principles of Responsible Antibiotic Use
The responsible use framework ("RUMA" guidelines in the UK) includes:
- Treat only animals that need antibiotic treatment — welfare justification required
- Use the right antibiotic at the right dose for the right duration
- Prefer narrow-spectrum antibiotics for specific infections over broad-spectrum where effective
- Reserve critically important antibiotics (fluoroquinolones, 3rd/4th generation cephalosporins) as true last resorts
- Never use antibiotics for growth promotion
- Adopt preventive measures that reduce disease incidence and antibiotic requirement
Welfare and Stewardship Balance
The welfare case for appropriate antibiotic use is strong — infectious disease causes significant suffering that effective treatment can rapidly resolve. Stewardship is emphatically NOT about withholding antibiotics from animals that need them for welfare. Rather, it means:
- Accurate diagnosis before prescribing (culture and sensitivity where appropriate)
- Treating at the correct dose for the correct duration — undertreating selects for resistance as strongly as overtreating
- Using metaphylaxis (group treatment) based on risk assessment and disease prevalence — not blanket prevention
- Investing in prevention (vaccination, biosecurity, nutrition, housing) to reduce the need for treatment
Veterinary Health Plans
Annual antibiotic usage data recording and review with the farm vet is now standard in UK farm assurance schemes. AHDB's Medicine Hub allows farmers to record and benchmark antibiotic use against industry targets. UK agriculture has achieved significant reductions in antibiotic use — total livestock antibiotic use reduced by over 50% between 2014 and 2020 — while maintaining or improving welfare outcomes where prevention programmes replaced routine treatment.