Leading vet tells farmers to steer away from 'highest priority antibiotics'

Farmers have been reminded of the importance of only using HP-CIAs as a last resort
Farmers have been reminded of the importance of only using HP-CIAs as a last resort

Protecting 'highest priority antibiotics' is “so important for animal and human health” and farmers must only administer them when all other options have been exhausted, a leading vet says.

Highest priority critically important antibiotics (HP-CIAs) are defined by the European Medicines Agency as 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones and Colistin.

HP-CIAs are designated by the European Medicines Agency because they are some of the only available therapies for some of the most serious bacterial infections in human health.

Farmers have now been urged to use HP-CIAs as a last resort under veterinary direction, backed up by either sensitivity or diagnostic testing.

'Last resort'

Phil Elkins, the chair of Westpoint Farm Vets’ Clinical Governance Board, said HP-CIAs must only be prescribed as a last resort or face being withdrawn from use altogether.

Mr Elkins is also on the Red Tractor Assurance Dairy Board and Technical Advisory Committee.

It is a requirement of the Red Tractor Dairy and Beef and Lamb standards that HP-CIAs are used as a last resort under veterinary direction, backed up by either sensitivity or diagnostic testing.

Mr Elkins said: “Experience across a wide spectrum of farm animal vets shows that it is rarely the case that HP-CIAs are the only ones which will work.

“In fact, in a recently published study, one practice has shown that eliminating these products entirely has had no effect on welfare outcomes for cows.”

'Strong justification'

Mr Elkins said the justification to use these products must be “strong”: “If, as an industry, we do not effectively eliminate their use other than in extreme situations, the option to use them will get taken away from us and then when we do need them, they will not be available,” Mr Elkins added.

There are two commercially available routes to help vets; disc diffusion and determination of minimal inhibitory concentrations.

“Both have their potential flaws,” Mr Elkins said, adding genetic markers for resistance are being identified and may provide a better alternative in the future.

“But until then, the currently available tools are the best we have.”

Last week the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) published its One Year On report detailing the reduction in antibiotic use by species.

It concluded that farmers and the veterinary profession are “committed and making good progress” but also that the sectors are all in very different places.