[Variables describing the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals]

In order to represent relationships between the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals and the extend of bacteria with resistance characteristics, it is necessary to have access to information about dispensary and consumption of antibiotic drugs. This does not only require suitable detection methods, but also the establishment of figures which adequately describe the use of antibiotics both on the level of the enterprise, respectively veterinarian, as well as in cumulative form. In various countries different calculations for the analysis of data on antibiotic use are applied, therefore the results are not always comparable.The aim of this publication is to provide an overview of the national and international terminology and variables, to give concrete definitions and to identify those variables most suitable for particular objectives. Hereby a contribution to the standardization of evaluations should be made, to enable a comparison of data on use of antibiotics from various sources of information.