Antibiotic data from nearly 15m pigs recorded on eMB-Pigs
10th Feb 2017 / By Alistair Driver
Data covering nearly 15 million pigs has now been entered onto the eMB-Pigs database, as coverage increased significantly in the early part of 2017.
As of February 8, quarterly antibiotic usage data had been entered onto the system from 272 users covering 1,213 sites. This data covered nearly 7m finishers, 7.4m weaners and an estimated 259,000 boars and sows.
This represented 36 per cent of pigs slaughtered in 2015 and 35 per cent slaughtered in 2016.
This represented a big leap forward from the figures of less than 20 per cent in December and 25 per cent (2015) and 21 per cent (2016) at the start of January.
The numbers are expected to continue rising as AHDB Pork continues to work with the large pig producing companies and other parts of the supply chain, including vets and feed companies, to encourage uptake.
AHDB strategy director Mick Sloyan said: “We have had fantastic co-operation from across the industry and within AHDB to ensure the information collected is collated centrally on the database.
"We currently have approaching 40 per cent of production covered and are continuing to grow these numbers.”
He said the data would be invaluable as discussions take place this year over setting long-term antimicrobial reduction targets for the pig sector, under the antibiotic ‘Targets Task Force’, set up by the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) alliance.
In a further boost to uptake, Red Tractor Assurance has confirmed members of the pork scheme will be required to use eMB-Pigs to record antibiotics usage from November 1.
eMB-Pigs guidance
A user guide for the e-MB is online to provide support to producers who need it. It can be found at here
The e-MB platform can be accessed here
Videos to help farmers upload data to the e-MB can be viewed here
A Webinar providing background plus real time overview of the system can be seen here
Click here to see the NPA's comprehensive Antibiotic Stewardship Programme, which highlights the need for accurate antibiotic data recording