A summary index for antimicrobial resistance in food animals in the Netherlands

BACKGROUND: The Dutch government has set targets for reduction of antimicrobial usage in food animals, stipulating a 50% reduction in usage (on a weight basis) in 2013 as compared to 2009 and a 70% decrease in 2015. A monitoring program has been instituted to evaluate the impact on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The Dutch Ministry of Public Health Welfare and Sports has expressed the need for a summary index to present the results of the monitoring data concisely to policy makers.METHODS: We use data on AMR in bacteria from randomly collected samples from broiler chickens, fattening pigs, vea... Mehr ...