| 1. |
- Backhans, Annette, et al.
(författare)
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A Comparison of Pig Farmers' and Veterinarians' Perceptions and Intentions to Reduce Antimicrobial Usage in Six European Countries
- 2016
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Ingår i: Zoonoses and Public Health. - : Wiley. - 1863-1959 .- 1863-2378. ; 63, s. 534-544
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antimicrobial (AM) resistance is an increasing problem in human and veterinary medicine. To manage this problem, the usage of AM should be reduced in pig farming, as well as in other areas. It is important to investigate the factors that influence both pig farmers' and veterinarians' intentions to reduce AM usage, which is a prerequisite for developing intervention measures. We conducted a mail survey among pig farmers (N=1,294) and an online survey among veterinarians (N=334) in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. The farmers' survey assessed the perceived risks and benefits of and need for AM usage; the intention to reduce AM usage; farmers' efficacy (i.e. perception of their ability to reduce AM usage); support from their veterinarian; and the future reduction potential of AM usage. Additionally, self-reported reduction behaviours, the perceived farmers' barriers to reduce AM usage and relationships with farmers were assessed in the veterinarians' survey. The results showed that farmers and veterinarians had similar perceptions of the risks and benefits of AM usage. Veterinarians appeared to be more optimistic than pig farmers about reducing AM usage in pig farming. Farmers believed that their efficacy over AM reduction was relatively high. Farmers' intention to reduce AM usage and veterinarians' self-reported reduction behaviours were mainly associated with factors concerning the feasibility of reducing AM usage. To promote prudent AM usage, pig farmers should learn and experience how to reduce usage by applying alternative measures, whereas veterinarians should strengthen their advisory role and competencies to support and educate farmers.
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| 2. |
- Backhans, Annette, et al.
(författare)
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Alternatives to the use of antimicrobial agents in pig production: A multi-country expert-ranking of perceived effectiveness, feasibility and return on investment : A multi-country expert-ranking of perceived effectiveness, feasibility and return on investment
- 2015
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Ingår i: Preventive Veterinary Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-5877 .- 1873-1716. ; 118, s. 457-466
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nineteen alternatives to antimicrobial agents were ranked on perceived effectiveness, feasibility and return on investment (ROI) from 0 (not effective, not feasible, no ROI) to 10 (fully effective, completely feasible, maximum ROI) by 111 pig health experts from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.The top 5 measures in terms of perceived effectiveness were (1) improved internal biosecurity, (2) improved external biosecurity, (3) improved climate/environmental conditions, (4) high health/Specific Pathogen Free/disease eradication and (5) increased vaccination. The top 5 measures in terms of perceived feasibility were (1) increased vaccination, (2) increased use of anti-inflammatory products, (3) improved water quality, (4) feed quality/optimization and (5) use of zinc/metals. The top 5 measures in terms of perceived ROI were (1) improved internal biosecurity, (2) zinc/metals, (3) diagnostics/action plan, (4) feed quality/optimization and (5) climate/environmental improvements. Univariate linear regression showed that veterinary practitioners rank internal biosecurity, vaccination, use of zinc/metals, feed quality optimization and climate/environmental on average highest, while researchers and professors focused more on increased use of diagnostics and action plans. Financial incentives/penalties ranked low in all countries. Belgian respondents ranked feed quality significantly lower compared to the German respondents while reduction of stocking density was ranked higher in Belgium compared to Denmark. Categorical Principal Component Analysis applied to the average ranking supported the finding that veterinary practitioners had a preference for more practical, common and already known alternatives.The results showed that improvements in biosecurity, increased use of vaccination, use of zinc/metals, feed quality improvement and regular diagnostic testing combined with a clear action plan were perceived to be the most promising alternatives to antimicrobials in industrial pig production based on combined effectiveness, feasibility and ROI. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 3. |
- Backhans, Annette, et al.
(författare)
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Biosecurity level and health management practices in 60 Swedish farrow-to-finish herds
- 2015
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Ingår i: Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-605X .- 1751-0147. ; 57
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Biosecurity measures are important tools to maintain animal health in pig herds. Within the MINAPIG project, whose overall aim is to evaluate strategies to raise pigs with less antimicrobial use, biosecurity was evaluated in medium to large farrow-to-finish pig herds in Sweden. In 60 farrow-to-finish herds with more than 100 sows, the biosecurity level was evaluated using a previously developed protocol (BioCheck). In a detailed questionnaire, internal and external biosecurity was scored in six subcategories each. An overall score for biosecurity was also provided. Information regarding production parameters as well as gender and educational level of personnel working with the pigs was also collected. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the recorded data.Results: The median scores for external and internal biosecurity were 68 and 59, respectively, where 0 indicates total absence of biosecurity and 100 means maximal possible biosecurity. The subcategories for external and internal biosecurity that had the highest scores were "Purchase of animals" (external) and "Nursery unit"/"Fattening unit" (internal), while "Feed, water and equipment supplies" (external) and "Measures between compartments and equipment"/"Cleaning and disinfection" (internal) received the lowest scores. A female caretaker in the farrowing unit, a farmer with fewer years of experience and more educated personnel were positively associated with higher scores for some of the external and internal subcategories. In herds with < 190 sows, fattening pigs were mixed between batches significantly more often than in larger herds.Conclusions: The herds in this study had a high level of external biosecurity, as well as good internal biosecurity. Strong biosecurity related to the purchase of animals, protocols for visitors, the use of all-in, all-out systems, and sanitary period between batches. Still, there is room for improvement in preventing both the introduction of disease to herds (external) and the spread of infections within herds (internal). Systems for animal transport can be improved and with respect to internal biosecurity, there is especially room for improvement regarding hygiene measures in and between compartments, as well as the staff's working procedures between different groups of pigs.
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| 4. |
- Backhans, Annette, et al.
(författare)
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Perceptions of antimicrobial usage, antimicrobial resistance and policy measures to reduce antimicrobial usage in convenient samples of Belgian, French, German, Swedish and Swiss pig farmers
- 2015
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Ingår i: Preventive Veterinary Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-5877 .- 1873-1716. ; 119, s. 10-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We conducted a survey among convenient samples of pig farmers (N=281) in Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. We identified some significant differences among the five investigated countries (independent variable) regarding farmers' antimicrobial usage compared to their own country and worries related to pig farming (dependent variables), but most of the differences were rather small. In general, farmers perceived their own antimicrobial usage to be lower than that of their peers in the same country and lower than or similar to that of farmers from other countries. This may be a consequence of our convenience sample, resulting in self-selection of highly motivated farmers. Farmers were significantly more worried about financial/legal issues than about antimicrobial resistance. They believed that a reduction in revenues for slaughter pigs treated with a large amount of antimicrobials would have the most impact on reduced antimicrobial usage in their country. Further, farmers who were more worried about antimicrobial resistance and who estimated their own antimicrobial usage as lower than their fellow countrymen, perceived more impact from policy measures on the reduction of antimicrobials. Our results indicated that the same policy measures can be applied to reduce antimicrobial usage in pig farming in all five countries. Moreover, it seems worthwhile to increase pig farmers' awareness of the threat of antimicrobial resistance and its relation to antimicrobial usage; not only because pig farmers appeared little worried about antimicrobial usage but also because it affected farmers' perception of policy measures to reduce antimicrobial usage. Our samples were not representative for the national pig farmer populations. Further research is therefore needed to examine to what extent our findings can be generalised to these populations and to farmers in other countries. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 5. |
- Sjölund, Marie, et al.
(författare)
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Antimicrobial usage in 60 Swedish farrow-to-finish pig herds
- 2015
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Ingår i: Preventive Veterinary Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-5877 .- 1873-1716. ; 121, s. 257-264
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to quantify antimicrobial consumption in Swedish farrow-to-finish pig herds. Sixty herds with 100 sows or more producing more than 500 fatteners per year participated in a study where data on antimicrobial consumption over a period of one year were collected. Data on antimicrobial use were collected by substance, administration route and per age category. Antimicrobial use was measured as defined daily doses and expressed as treatment incidence (TI) per 1000 pig-days at risk. The Tls for growing pigs varied between herds, from 1.6 to 116.0 with a median of 14.3. The highest TI was recorded for suckling piglets with a median of 54.7 (range; 1.6-367.9), while the median Tls for weaners, fatteners and adults were 6.2, 2.8 and 8.4, respectively (range; 0.0-260.5; 0.0-64.9; 0.0-45.0, respectively). The within herd Tls for the different age categories were not correlated. Individual treatment, mainly consisting of injectables, was the most common form of application except for weaners for which a majority (54.8%) of the treatments were group treatments. Benzylpenicillin was the most commonly applied substance except for weaners for which oral formulations of tylosin were most common. For fatteners, group treatments constituted 8.4% of the total TI. Group treatments with oral colistin were applied to suckling piglets in five herds. Group treatments were not applied to adult pigs. The TI for weaners was significantly lower for specific pathogen-free herds. The results show that the overall antimicrobial use in Swedish farrow-to-finish pig herds varied to a great extent, and the between-herd variation indicates that there is room for improvement of pig health. Targeting suckling piglets may be most beneficial, but further studies are required to identify specific focus areas which may reduce the need for antimicrobials in this particular age group. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
- Sjölund, Marie, et al.
(författare)
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Quantitative and qualitative antimicrobial usage patterns in farrow-to-finish pig herds in Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden
- 2016
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Ingår i: Preventive Veterinary Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-5877 .- 1873-1716. ; 130, s. 41-50
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Data on sales of antimicrobials using a standardised methodology have shown that there are vast differences between countries in amounts of antimicrobials sold for food-producing animals, but these data do not provide insight on how sales are distributed by species and age groups. The aim of this study was to compare herd level antimicrobial usage for pigs by age category, antimicrobial class and administration route for farrow-to-finish herds in four EU countries. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 227 farrow-to-finish pig herds with at least 100 sows and 500 finishing pigs in Belgium (n = 47), France (n = 60), Germany (n = 60) and Sweden (n = 60). Detailed information about the antimicrobial consumption for breeding and growing pigs was collected. Antimicrobial usage was quantified as active substance expressed as mg and then converted to treatment incidence (TI) based on Defined Daily Doses Animal per 1000 pig-days at risk. Tls varied between and within countries, herds and age groups. The Swedish herds had the lowest and the German herds the highest overall use. Most treatments were applied to weaned piglets except in the Swedish herds where treatments of suckling piglets were most frequent. Antimicrobials were most often applied through feed or water except in the Swedish herds where parenteral treatments were most frequent. Aminopenicillins was the antimicrobial class most commonly used. Use of third and fourth generation cephalosporins constituted 11% of use for the Belgian herds, which was higher compared to the other countries. There was a significant (p < 0.01) association between the within-herd antimicrobial use across different age categories. This study has shown that there were large differences in antimicrobial use for pigs between countries, herds and age groups in farrow-to-finish herds of similar size when actual consumption data were compared. Collecting detailed usage data can be used to efficiently target high users in order to reduce antimicrobial consumption.
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| 7. |
- Backhans, Annette
(författare)
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Wild rodents as carriers of potential pathogens to pigs, chickens and humans : with special emphasis on Brachyspira spp. and Yersinia enterocolitica
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis was to investigate the specific risks that rodents constitute for proliferation of pathogens and transmission of those to farm animals, and indirectly to humans. Rodents were captured in pig and chicken flocks, in wastewater treatment plants and other urban environments. The enteric pig pathogens Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli and the chicken pathogen B. intermedia were detected. Fingerprinting by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA and Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis indicated cross-species transmission of B. pilosicoli, B. intermedia, B. innocens, and B. murdochii between rodents and farm animals. A phylogeny of murine brachyspiras was established. Three new genetic rodent variants of Brachyspira spp. were discovered, for which the provisional names ‘B. rattus’, ‘B. muridarum’ and ‘B. muris’ were suggested. Lawsonia intracellularis and encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) were detected in rodents trapped on pig farms. The clinical significance of leptospirosis in Sweden is reportedly minor. However, the detection of pathogenic leptospiras in mice, rats and a water vole indicated that rodents constitute a potential hazard to pigs and humans. Campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis and yersiniosis are the most frequently reported zoonosis in Europe. Rodents in the study carried C. jejuni, C. coli and C. upsaliensis. Identical isolates of the human pathogen Yersinia enterocolitica bioserotype 4/O:3 were isolated both from rodents and pigs on the same farm, indicating cross-species transmission. Salmonella enterica could not be detected by the applied real-time PCR, indicating a low sensitivity of this test. No zoonotic variants of Giardia spp. or Cryptosporidium spp. were detected. All samples were tested negative for Trichinella spp. indicating that trichinellosis is not a widespread infection in wild rodents in Sweden. No rodents were seropositive to Toxoplasma gondii. In conclusion, the results show that rodents could be a risk for the transmission of the pig pathogens Lawsonia intracellularis, Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, B. pilosicoli, pathogenic Leptospira spp. and EMCV, and zoonotic Campylobacter species and Yersinia enterocolitica 4/O:3 in Sweden.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Backhans, Annette, et al.
(författare)
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Factors influencing pig farmers’ and veterinarians’ intention to reduce antimicrobial usage in six european countries
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Veterinary antimicrobial (AM) usage should be reduced to mitigate the development of AM resistance. This study investigated factors that influence pig farmers’ intention to reduce AM usage and veterinarians’ reported reduction behaviour; these are a prerequisite for actual behaviour. A survey was conducted among 1,294 pig farmers and 334 veterinarians in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland to assess the perceived risks, benefits and need of AM usage, potential for AM usage reduction, farmers’ self-efficacy (i.e. perceived own abilities to reduce AM usage), relation with farmers as clients and support from veterinarian. Farmers’ self-efficacy and perceived feasibility of AM usage reduction were the main predictors of farmers’ intention to reduce AM usage and veterinarians’ reduction behaviour, respectively. To promote prudent AM usage, pig farmers need to learn how to control their AM usage by applying alternative measures, whereas veterinarians should strengthen their advisory role to support and educate farmers English
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