Kovacs Dora, Raizman Eran, Deckert Anne, Ciria Artiga Natalia, Bošković Marijana, Bučan Ervin, Filipović Jelena Vračar, Agolli Olta, Grbić Dragana, Hrapović Mevlida, Ivanović Ivan, Jusufi Nora, Lješković Saša, Milovanović Ljiljana, Nagy Tamas, Palibrk Miloš, Rogošić Milan, Sargsyan Anna, Tabakovski Blagojcho, Beltran-Alcrudo Daniel
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, 1054 Budapest, Hungary.
Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2025 Aug 19;14(8):839. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics14080839.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to human, animal, and environmental health. To tackle AMR in the livestock sector, there is a need to understand the antimicrobial use (AMU) practices of different stakeholders in order to target the common knowledge gaps and inappropriate practices with tailored interventions. In the Western Balkans, published evidence shows the presence of AMR in both humans and animals. Since studies on AMU have mainly been conducted in humans, there is a significant knowledge gap about AMU in the livestock sector. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of farmers, veterinarians, veterinary pharmacy personnel, and feed mill personnel related to AMU (focusing on antibiotics) and AMR in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999)), Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Field interviews were conducted in 2022 with 2815 participants in selected regions of the countries. The findings showed that farmers engaged in imprudent practices, including purchasing antimicrobials without a prescription, administering antimicrobials for growth promotion, and disposing of expired antimicrobials in the garbage. Farmers' main knowledge gaps were related to the duration of antimicrobial treatment and the differentiation between AMR and antimicrobial residues. This study also revealed poor record-keeping on animal treatments and a lack of some biosecurity measures. In terms of the attitudes and practices of veterinarians and veterinary pharmacy personnel, the belief that antimicrobial drugs are important for growth promotion, and the common use and sales of highest priority critically important antimicrobials should be targets for future interventions. Despite significant ongoing efforts to tackle AMR, there is still a need for training, awareness-raising, and policy interventions to address the knowledge gaps identified by this study and optimize AMU in the livestock sector in the Western Balkans.
抗菌药物耐药性（AMR）是对人类、动物和环境健康的重大威胁。为应对畜牧业中的AMR，有必要了解不同利益相关者的抗菌药物使用（AMU）做法，以便通过量身定制的干预措施来填补常见的知识空白并纠正不当做法。在西巴尔干地区，已发表的证据表明人类和动物中均存在AMR。由于关于AMU的研究主要在人类中进行，因此在畜牧业的AMU方面存在重大知识空白。本研究的目的是评估阿尔巴尼亚、波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那、科索沃（对科索沃的提及应理解为在安全理事会第1244（1999）号决议的背景下）、黑山、北马其顿和塞尔维亚的农民、兽医、兽药房工作人员和饲料厂工作人员在AMU（重点是抗生素）和AMR方面的知识、态度和做法。2022年，在这些国家的选定地区对2815名参与者进行了实地访谈。研究结果表明，农民存在轻率行为，包括无处方购买抗菌药物、为促进生长而使用抗菌药物以及将过期抗菌药物丢弃在垃圾中。农民的主要知识空白与抗菌治疗的持续时间以及AMR与抗菌药物残留的区分有关。本研究还揭示了动物治疗记录保存不善以及一些生物安全措施的缺失。在兽医和兽药房工作人员的态度和做法方面，认为抗菌药物对促进生长很重要以及常用和销售最高优先级的极其重要的抗菌药物应成为未来干预的目标。尽管目前在应对AMR方面做出了重大努力，但仍需要进行培训、提高认识和采取政策干预措施，以填补本研究发现的知识空白，并优化西巴尔干地区畜牧业的AMU。
