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According to the latest report from the Netherlands Veterinary Medicines Institute (SDa) concerning the use of antibiotics in animal production in the Netherlands, the use of colistin continued to increase in 2020.
The overall use of colistin in the Dutch livestock sector increased by 7.3% in 2020. Its use has been increasing since 2017, representing a 62.1% increase over the 2017-2020 period.
Since colistin is of critical importance for human medicine, its use in veterinary medicine should be limited as much as possible, which is why the SDa expert panel considers that urgent measures are required to prevent this unfavorable development.
The use of colistin in the swine industry accounted for 82% of the total, being 9.3% higher than the previous year (1175.5 kg of active ingredient in 2020 vs. 1075.3 kg in 2019). Its use is mainly for the treatment of enteropathogenic E. coli infections in weaned piglets. Of the amount of colistin used in pig farming, 91.0% could be attributed to use in weaned piglets, 6.4% for use in suckling piglets, and 2.6% for use in finishing pigs.
January 10, 2022/ 333 Staff with data from SDa.
