GUT HEALTH ▶▶▶
More focus needed on gut health
A healthy gut is a proven solution for better health and feed efficiency. Aiming for a healthy intestinal tract not only creates healthier and more robust animals, also antibiotic use can be significantly reduced.
BY EMMY KOELEMAN T
his was one of the conclusions from the All About Feed webinar on reducing antibiotics in animal di- ets. The webinar, broadcasted live on October 12, delved deeper into the global situation on antibiot-
ic use and the nutritional tools that can be used as part of a plan to reduce antibiotics on farms. One clear nutritional tool that was mentioned is a healthy gut. A balanced microbiome and healthy – good length – villi are some of the elements that define a healthy gut.
AGPs still allowed in some countries Luís Garmo, Research Assistant at the Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, kicked off the webinar with a short history and global overview of antibiotic use in farm animals. “Antibiotics revolutionised the human medical world and are still often seen as the magic bullets to target pathogens without harming the human body. Over the last decades the use of antibiotics has been increasingly used in farm animals as well; to treat diseases, to prevent diseases and to promote growth,” explains Mr Garmo. The latter (the use for growth promoting) shows global variance, “According to 2016 figures from the OIE we see that in 74% of all coun- tries worldwide the use of antibiotics as growth promoter is not allowed. So in 26% it is still allowed in farm animals,” he said. Mr Garmo also addressed the need for a good monitoring system per country to have a clear picture of the total antibi- otics used. Ideally, every country should also measure the re- sistance levels to be able to assess whether resistance levels in bacteria go up or down, depending on the levels of antibi- otics used in agriculture (and human medicine). He also dis- cussed the results from a survey among 67 veterinarian ex- perts from Portugal, Switzerland and Denmark. “We asked them about their views on alternatives to antibiotic use and made a top 10 of the answers given. In first place we had the need to improve internal biosecurity. In second place, the
need to improve the veterinarians education was seen.” Mr Garmo addressed the need for good monitoring systems per country, both for antibiotic use and resistance levels of bacteria. Mr Garmo: “This way we can measure trends of an- timicrobial consumption, assess the impact of interventions, identify the risk factors for the emergence of resistance and gain more knowledge on the link between antimicrobial usage and resistance”. One example is the European Surveil- lance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption (ESVAC). This was created in 2010. It started off with nine countries, but currently 27 participants use the system. Mr Garmo is also an advocate of using a ‘One Health approach’ to tackle antimicrobial use and resistance on a global level.
Heavy use for intestinal disorders Susanne Kirwan PhD, product manager Health at Kemin Eu- rope explained the benefits for the animals when fewer anti- biotics are used. She addressed that there is need to reduce antibiotics on a global level, because antibiotic resistance is increasing, the public acceptance for using antibiotics in live- stock animals is decreasing and the effectiveness of the AGPs are decreasing as well. Facts presented by her included that
Antibiotics are still used around the world to treat or prevent diseases.
▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 25, No. 10, 2017
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PHOTO: HENK RISWICK
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