Herd numbers may be ranked according to antibiotics usage in future, following the introduction of new veterinary medicines regulations in 2022.

These new regulations, which come into force next January 28, will require vets to become more strategic in their use of permitted antibiotics, said Kerry-based vet, Robert Flahive.

Speaking as a panellist at an antimicrobial resistance (AMR) webinar hosted by animal-health company AHV earlier today, the vet outlined a number of changes that will arise as a result of the new regulations.

One of the big changes, he said, relates to the documentation and national recording of prescriptions.

Additionally, he said he anticipated this to be followed by a herd-ranking and auditing system, as is currently done in other countries.

"One major change is that vets will have to upload all prescriptions onto a national database," Robert said.

Robert explained that all prescriptions will be collated to the herd number they are associated with.

"Once they have been ranked, then we expect there will be audits on people who are two standard deviations above the average or below the average.

"In other countries they have done similar and that is what we anticipate will happen here too."

He explained that no longer will antibiotics be used in a prophylactic or metaphylactic way.

"We won't be able to use antibiotics to cover deficiencies in management.

Antibiotics are categorised as 'high-priority critically important' and 'high priority' he said. The former will not be permitted from January 2022, the latter may be used but must be justified.

Robert explained:

"Another big change for us is that every time we prescribe, we must provide a diagnosis. If we are going to use an antibiotic on the higher categories, we have to document why we want to use it, which means culture and sensitivity tests need to be done."

However, he said this does not mean there will be a delay in the treatment of an animal.

"We can treat instantly, we just cannot use the medicines on the 'critically important' list," he pointed out.