2021 Veterinary Antimicrobial Sales Highlights Report

Working towards the preservation of effective antimicrobials for humans and animals

What's new

The Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance has launched interactive data which includes findings from the Veterinary Antimicrobial Sales Reporting system.

Key findings

In 2021, which is the fourth year of mandatory sales reporting, the key findings were:

Information on antimicrobials of importance to human medicine sold for use in animals

• Overall sales of antimicrobials for all animals decreased by 2% in 2021 (in total kg sold) compared to 2020.
  • For production animals (which includes food-producing animals and horses) there was a 3% decrease in the quantity of antimicrobials sold when accounting for the number of animals and their weights using an average weight at treatment (mg/population correction unit or mg/PCU_CA) or slaughter weight (mg/kg biomass_SL).
• Since the first year of mandatory sales reporting in 2018, the percentage of reported sales has increased by 1% for manufacturers and decreased by 3% for importers.
• In 2021, manufacturers represented 91% (998,980 kg) of the total reported kg of antimicrobials sold and importers represented 3% (28,922 kg):
• There was an overall decrease in sales (~17,730 kg) of antimicrobials between 2020 and 2021.
• Top classes of antimicrobials sold by manufacturers and importers were tetracyclines, penicillins, macrolides, bacitracins and lincosamides.
• Antimicrobial classes that had the largest increase in sales (kg) in 2021 were the penicillins, aminoglycosides and lincosamides.
• Total sales (kg) by Category of Importance to Human Medicine: Category I (very high importance) <1% (similar rank to 2020), Category II (high importance) ~33%, Category III (medium importance) ~65% and Uncategorized Medically Important ~2%.
• Between 2020 and 2021, Category I sales increased by 2% (from ~5,600 kg to ~5,700 kg), Category II sales increased by 5% (from ~320,000 kg to ~336,000 kg), Category III sales decreased by 5% (from ~703,000 kg to ~670,000 kg) and Uncategorized Medically Important sales decreased by 3% (from ~20,000 kg to ~17,000 kg).
• In 2021, reporting by compounders represented 6% of the total kg of antimicrobials sold (63,990 kg):
  • The majority of antimicrobials sold by compounders were Category II (98%).
  • The top classes reported were diaminopyrimidine-sulfonamide combinations, penicillins and aminoglycosides.
  • The percentage of total compounding sales (in kg) reported by all data providers was stable (<1% change) between 2020 and 2021.
  • On average, 86% of the total kg reported to be compounded were for use in pigs.

Animal species information

• Similar to 2020, the bulk (kg) of antimicrobials sold in 2021 were intended for use in:
  • Pigs ~ 470,000 kg, 257 mg/PCU_CA
  • Cattle ~ 349,000 kg, 83.29 mg/PCU_CA
  • Poultry ~ 151,000 kg, 197 mg/PCU_CA
• Between 2020 and 2021, the percent change in the quantity of sales was:
  • -13% for pigs in both kg and mg/PCU_CA
  • +6% for cattle in kg and +2% in mg/PCU_CA
  • +13% for poultry in kg and +10% in mg/PCU_CA
• In 2021, poultry sales increased to within 99% of reported sales in 2018 (in kg) and within ~97% of 2018 reported sales in mg/PCU_CA.
• Between 2020 and 2021, Category I antimicrobial sales:
  • Increased in pigs from ~270 kg to ~300 kg (from 0.14 to 0.15 in mg/PCU_CA)
  • Increased in cattle from ~1,500 kg to ~1,700 kg (from 0.39 to 0.41 in mg/PCU_CA)
  • No Category I sales were reported for poultry in 2019, 2020, or 2021
  • Decreased in cats and dogs from ~3,600 kg to ~3,500 kg (from 25 to 24 in mg/PCU_CA)
• Macrolide sales for poultry decreased to less than 10 kg in 2020, and then increased to levels higher than reported in 2018 and 2019.

Information on route of administration

• The majority of sales by route of administration (92%) were intended for use via feed or water (similar to 2020).
• Overall breakdown of sales by route of administration:
  • Feed (premix) (73%)
  • Water (20%)
  • Injection (4%)
  • Other routes (including topical, ophthalmic, otic, intrauterine) (3%)
  • Oral (other - for individual administration) (<1%)
  • Intramammary (<1%)

Regional information

• The largest quantity of antimicrobials sold for use in animals (in kg) by manufacturers and importers were reported to be in Ontario, Alberta, Québec and Manitoba, which are the major food animal-producing provinces.
• Compared to 2020, sales (in kg) decreased in Québec, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, increased in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and were relatively stable in Ontario and Alberta (<1% change).
• In 2021, the majority of the quantities of antimicrobials reported to be compounded for use in animals were in Québec (53%), followed by Ontario (24%) and Manitoba (16%) (in kg). There may be subsequent distribution of antimicrobials across provincial borders after being compounded, hence caution should be applied when interpreting the provincial quantities of antimicrobials compounded.