Farm Biosecurity

Antimicrobial resistance poses one of the biggest threats to public and animal health.¹ Of all antibiotics sold in the United States, approximately 80% are sold for use in animal agriculture.²

Although measures have been taken to reduce the non-judicious use of antimicrobials in livestock production, using these for non-therapeutic purposes remains prevalent in many regions across the world.

A well-known meta analysis reviewed 27 studies across multiple countries and showed that increased biosecurity measures were the biggest factor associated with lower levels of antimicrobial use.³

The Animal Production Biosecurity Academic Chair is an industry/academic collaboration to further biosecurity training and research. Faculty of Ghent University Veterinary Medicine, Belgium, have collaborated with CID LINES, an Ecolab Company, to create the position. The initiative will focus on biosecurity measures that keep animals healthy, including One Health topics such as antimicrobial use.