UK farmers have to wake up to the reality of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the need to reduce routine antibiotic use in all types of livestock farming, as UK politicians, vets and the retail sector faces up one of its greatest threats to human health.

That was the stark warning from Professor David Barrett, of the University of Bristol, who told delegates attending the Semex conference in Glasgow, that without policies in place to reduce antibiotic use in livestock, AMR could be responsible for 10m deaths a year by 2050.

The good news is it is not the clinical problem in veterinary medicine that it is in humans. However, livestock farmers still need to concentrate more on disease prevention, through the use of vaccines and better animal health and welfare, he said.

“There is not the same urgency to reduce anti-biotics in the dairy industry compared to the pig and poultry sectors, but we need to make farmers aware of the issues and the actions they should be looking to take,” said Professor Barrett.

“Antibiotic resistance is becoming a growing problem and while the dairy sector is a small user in comparison, some of the products used have and are being heavily marketed and these are the ones we need to become more aware of.”

He added that while mastitis in milking cows and pneumonia in calves account for the biggest use of antibiotics in the sector, producers should do more to improve health and welfare through better housing and hygiene. He urged producers to rely more on vaccines rather than antibiotics to combat disease.

Key to reducing the AMR, he said, was reducing emphasis on critically important antimicrobials, which include the fluoroquinoles, the third and four generation cephalosporins – broad spectrum antibiotics that can be used for a wide range of problems including mastitis, endometritis and control of infectious lameness – and long-acting macrolides.

He also challenged the industry to stop using all third and fourth generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones by 2020, claiming that the dairy herd at the University of Bristol had been able to do so by improved health and hygiene in housing.

He encouraged the use of correct wormers and antibiotics to treat exact causes of problems, to prevent resistance from building and to follow vet and med instructions. Underdosing or not finishing a course of treatment, are also things which can lead to resistance build up, plus incorrect storage and vaccination timings could leave treatments ineffective.

Farmers also need to ensure they weigh animals and check dosing guns to ensure correct treatment, to reduce the risk of resistance In addition, they need to consider vet and med records to identify ‘best strategy’. Using the wrong medicine is a waste of money and cause failure and resistance, he said.

Finally, he said producers should have an active health plan and speak to their vet regularly.