Use of critically important antibiotics class has more than doubled on UK pig farms

The use of a class of antibiotics critically important to human health more than doubled on UK pig farms between 2015 and 2019, raising concerns over the impact this could have on the rise of antimicrobial resistant infections.

The unpublished industry data—uncovered by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Vet Record, and the Guardian, and seen by The BMJ—shows the use of aminoglycosides rose from 2.607 mg/PCU (mg per kilogram of body weight) to 5.957 mg/PCU over four years.

Aminoglycosides—a class which includes amikacin, gentamicin, …