Reducing antimicrobial usage in small-scale chicken farms in Vietnam: A three-year intervention study

Abstract

Indiscriminate antimicrobial use (AMU) in animal production is a driver of antimicrobial resistance globally, with a need to define sustainable AMU-reducing interventions in small-scale farms typical of low- and middle-income countries. We conducted a before-and-after intervention study on a random sample of small-scale chicken farms in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta from 2016 to 2019. A baseline was established before providing farms (n=102) with veterinary advice on chicken health and husbandry, and antimicrobial replacement products. Thirty-five (34.2%) farms entered the intervention phase; the remainder no longer continued raising chickens. The intervention reduced AMU (-66%) (hazard ratio [HR]=0.34; p=0.002) (baseline 343.4 Animal Daily Doses per 1,000 chicken-days) and mortality (-40%) (HR=0.60; p=0.005) (weekly baseline 1.60 per 100). Chicken bodyweight increased by 100g (p=0.002) in intervention flocks. Our findings demonstrate that in the Vietnamese context, AMU can be substantially reduced in small-scale chicken farms without compromising flock health by providing veterinary advice.

Reducing Antimicrobial Usage in Small-Scale Chicken Farms in Vietnam: A 3-Year Intervention Study

“…The authors would like to thank all farmer participants, the staff affiliated to the Dong Thap Sub-Department of Animal Health, Production and Aquaculture, the staff at Agricultural Service Center of Cao Lanh and Thap Muoi district, Dong Thap province for their help and support. This manuscript has been released as a pre-print at: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.13.295659v1 ( 31 ).…”

Small-scale commercial chicken production: A risky business for farmers in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

“…Flock-related variables were flock size (No. chickens purchased), duration of the production cycle (in weeks), number of sources of DOCs and their cost, feed type (commercial feed, locally-sourced) and price (per kg), percent of weeks consuming commercial medicated feed, average number of daily doses of antimicrobial administered to 1 kg of live chicken per 1,000 kg chicken-days (ADD kg per 1,000 kg chicken-days) (Phu et al, 2020), number of antimicrobial-containing products used, number of vaccines (pathogens) per flock, flock cumulative mortality over the production cycle (as percent of chickens purchased), cumulative mortality from week 9 (as percent of chickens purchased), flocks in farms raising >1 flock simultaneously, flocks in farms also raising non-chicken species, flocks where farmer purchased new equipment. All variables were tested as fixed effects, with ‘farm’ identity included as a random effect.…”