Antibiotic usage in veterinary practice
3. Antibiotic usage in veterinary practice
Published 29 April 2021 | Updated 22 November 2024
Data on antibiotic usage in animals in the UK has primarily been sourced from the Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) reports published by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. However, as many antibiotics are authorised for use in multiple animal species, it is not possible to determine from sales data how much is used per species. More recently ‘big data’ projects such as SAVSNET and VetCompass have been able to provide additional data on antibiotic usage in companion animals.
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- Veterinary Medicines Directorate (2020) UK Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) Report 2019 [online] Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/veterinary-antimicrobial-resistance-and-sales-surveillance-2019 [Accessed 8 April 2021]
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- European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption (ESVAC) [European Medicines Agency] [online] Available from: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/veterinary-regulatory/overview/antimicrobial-resistance/european-surveillance-veterinary-antimicrobial-consumption-esvac [Accessed 8 April 2021]
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- Del Solar Bravo, R.E. et al. (2023) Antibiotic therapy in dogs and cats in general practise in the United Kingdom before referral. Journal of Small Animal Practice. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsap.13615
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- Hardefeldt, L.Y. et al (2018) Population wide assessment of antimicrobial use in dogs and cats using a novel data source–a cohort study using pet insurance data. Veterinary Microbiology, 225, pp. 34-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2018.09.010
- Weese, J.S. et al. (2022) Estimation of defined daily doses of antimicrobials for dogs and cats treated for bacterial cystitis. Canadian Veterinary Journal, 63 (8), pp. 851-854.
- Tallon, R.E., Whitt, B. and Bladon, B. (2023) Antibiotic usage in 14 equine practices over a 10‐year period (2012–2021). Equine Veterinary Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13988
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