Working with small-scale pig keepers. Part 2: encouraging antibiotic stewardship

Abstract

Background: With much effort from both vets and producers, antibiotic use in the pig sector has been reduced by 74 per cent since 2015, as reported by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (2023). That being said, there is still room for improvement and efforts must now be aligned to tackling areas of inappropriate antibiotic use rather than simply reductions in use. Previous research has identified significant differences in antibiotic use across different systems and so strategies to decrease use or improve antibitoic stewardship in the commercial sector may not be suitable for keepers of small numbers of pigs; contributing factors to inappropriate use across all systems must be understood and addressed.

Aim of the article: In this article, the second in a two-part series on working with small-scale pig keepers, we discuss steps that supervising vets may take to encourage antibiotic stewardship on small-scale pig holdings, from pet pigs to small-scale producers. Part one of this series, published in last month's In Practice, provided advice and information regarding UK pig-specific legislation.