Denmark
#00282
Implements
#00382 End antimicrobial growth promotion and routine prophylactic use in food production
Implementer
Danish government, livestock sectors and DANMAP partners
Location
Description
Denmark progressively ended antimicrobial growth promotion, beginning with specific products and followed by voluntary and regulatory withdrawal across major pig and poultry production. DANMAP (Danish Integrated Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Research Programme) monitored antimicrobial consumption and resistance in animals, food and humans. Use of growth promoters fell and resistance linked to some withdrawn products declined. However, therapeutic antimicrobial use increased in parts of pig production and early post-weaning health problems were reported, indicating that restrictions require accompanying husbandry and animal-health support.
Lessons learned
- A growth-promotion ban can reduce selection pressure but may shift use into therapeutic categories if farm disease drivers (e.g., post-weaning infection pressure) are not also addressed.
- Integrated use and resistance surveillance (as implemented by DANMAP) is necessary to detect substitution effects and unintended animal-health consequences.
- Transition support—particularly for production stages with high infection pressure such as post-weaning pig rearing—is a prerequisite for a ban to achieve net reductions in total antimicrobial use.
Sources
2