On-demand: Webinar on antibiotic reduction

Management strategies to mitigate the heat stress effects

The webinar was held on September 30 and featured speakers Jan Dahl, Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Dr Lourens Heres, Darling Ingredients and Cheng Lee, Intracare.

Antibiotic reduction in Denmark

On behalf of the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, chief advisor Jan Dahl explained the developments that have been going on in Denmark in recent decades. He zoomed in on swine production; in Denmark the usage of antibiotics is relatively low in dairy cattle, he said. The real developments took place in swine production.

One of the strategies to reduce antibiotics he said is to zoom in critically on the amounts used. Does the entire treatment according to the marketing authorisation always have to be completed, he asked, or would it sometimes be possible to stop earlier? He pointed to a development in human medicine. He said, “At least in Denmark physicians are trying to shorten the treatment. They say when the clinical effect is achieved – or maybe the clinical effect plus one day – then you should stop.”

Doing the same in veterinary medicine is also behind the drop of antibiotic usage in Denmark, Dahl said. “Now here we have a problem,” he said as this method used in Denmark for many years “is now being challenged by new EU legislation.” Article 106 on the use of medicinal products compels vets and farms to use the products in accordance with the marketing authorisation.

Enabling antibiotic and zinc reduction

The 2^nd presentation was given by Lourens Heres, manager global technical support at Darling Ingredients. The theme of his presentation was to zoom in on the use of spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) as part of a strategy to lower antibiotic as well as zinc oxide usage.

He shared results of e.g. E. coli challenge trials by the SAC in Scotland, UK and feeding trials at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), the Netherlands. All in all he said, plasma is a feed ingredient that improves health and gut resistance; and that it is a proven alternative for preventive use of antibiotics and zinc oxide.

Spirochaetal diseases in swine and cattle

Spirochaetal infections in swine and cattle were on the menu at the presentation of Cheng Lee, product manager at Intracare. One of the Spirochaetes bacteria, the Treponema species, are a causative agent for digital dermatitis (mortellaro) in dairy cattle – and antibiotic treatments did not always yield good results. The company has developed a gel (Intra Epidine and Intra Hoof-fit) that can heal problems related to digital dermatitis.

In pigs, however, Spirochaetes bacteria are associated with an entirely different type of clinical problem, being swine dysentery. A well-known example is Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. For that approach, the company developed a non-antibiotic method based on a zinc chelate, that can be added through drinking water. Lee explained how the chelate “sits on the receptor on the intestinal epithelial cell, to prevent the attachment of the bacteria.” That way simply giving the pathogen no chance to do their harmful job; instead it will be flushed out of the system.

View the webinar of September 30th