40% of animal farms in Albania use antibiotics! Here's how it affects humans

About 40 percent of Albanian farmers reported using antimicrobials on their animals, according to a survey of 525 livestock farms, 29 veterinarians and 21 veterinary pharmacies conducted under the auspices of the World Food Organization (FAO), the results of which were recently published.

The use of antibiotics in animals is important because it strengthens antibiotic resistance in humans.

The survey results showed that antibiotic use was higher on large farms.

In small livestock farms (goats and sheep), 53.2 percent of farmers used antibiotics, 51.6 percent of beekeepers, 50.3 percent of dairy farms, and the same number of beef cattle farmers. Also, 29 percent of poultry farmers and 23.3 percent of domestic farms used antibiotics.

In Europe, due to a directive requiring the restriction of antibiotics in livestock, their use has decreased by 50% between 2011 and 2022.

Overuse of antibiotics can also increase the risk of bacteria that are resistant to treatment. This threatens animal health, but can also be a risk to humans for chronic diseases. People can also be exposed to resistant pathogens by eating contaminated meat and dairy products.

The survey in Albania showed that the majority of livestock farmers had no formal education or training on animal health or livestock.

Record keeping of medication was done more thoroughly by veterinarians and veterinary pharmacy staff than by farmers. Most veterinarians kept records of antibiotics prescribed. The information stored was the names and quantities of antibiotics sold or prescribed per year.

Similarly, all pharmacy staff kept records of the names of antibiotics sold per year and the quantities sold. On the other hand, only half of the farmers surveyed had records of drugs purchased and about 40 percent kept records of veterinary visits and treatments.

The use of antibiotics was generally not a first choice in case of illness on the surveyed farms, as farmers reported calling the veterinarian and isolating sick animals initially.

The main sources of antibiotics for farmers were veterinary pharmacies, and to a lesser extent, private veterinarians. When asked who makes the decision about when to use antibiotics, farmers primarily reported private veterinarians.

Farm owners also had a role in decisions regarding antibiotic use, despite the fact that many of them had no previous education or training in animal health.

While most farmers followed veterinarians' advice on the dose and duration of antibiotic therapy, a significant number of farmers (15.0 percent) reported that they had administered (at a lower dose and for a shorter duration) than recommended.

About 67 percent of farmers stated that they always or often took prescription antibiotics.

Antibiotics that are commonly used, recommended, or sold in accordance with their World Health Organization (WHO) ranking:

Critically important antimicrobials with the highest priority: ceftiofur, cefquinome, enrofloxacin, colistin

Critically important antimicrobials: Gentamicin, neomycin, streptomycin, kanamycin, erythromycin, tylosin, tilmicosin

Very important antimicrobials: amoxicillin, ampicillin, benzylpenicillin, cloxacillin, tetracycline, oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, doxycycline, florfenicol, lincomycin, sulfonamides

Important antimicrobials: spectinomycin

In most cases, the listed substances are used for the treatment of diseases and very rarely for prevention.

When participants were asked about the effectiveness of antimicrobials, (76.6 percent of farmers, 75.8 percent of veterinarians and 80.9 percent of pharmacists) reported that they had noticed a decrease in the effectiveness of these substances.

Almost half of antibiotic-using farmers reported that they had not heard of antibiotic resistance before. /Monitor