An updated UK One Health report covering antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in animals and humans was released on 31 January. This long-awaited review showed how human and veterinary medicine in the UK has progressed since 2013 on the One Health challenge of antimicrobial resistance.

The last One Health report indicated that 45% of antibiotics in the UK were used to treat all animals. In 2017, this fell to 36%. Overall, 26% of total tonnes used in people and animals was specifically for food-producing animals. Furthermore, out of the total tonnes of highest priority Critically Important Antibiotics used to treat diseases in humans and animals, 22% was used in animals in 2013 and 11% in 2017.

The report also shows we are seeing a reduction in the level of resistance to critical antibiotics in zoonotic bacteria from food-producing animals and retail meat. RUMA’s response can be found here.