Saudi Arabia urges dairy and poultry farms to disclose antimicrobial use amid resistance concerns

Saudi Arabia’s Weqaa centre calls on dairy and poultry farms to regularly report antimicrobial use to combat rising resistance and strengthen animal and public health protections.

Saudi Arabia’s National Centre for the Prevention and Control of Plant Pests and Animal Diseases, known as Weqaa, has called on fresh dairy and poultry farms to provide regular disclosures of antimicrobial use, in a move intended to tighten oversight of medicine consumption in livestock production.

The centre said the reporting mechanism is being developed to improve monitoring of antimicrobial use in the kingdom’s animal sector and to support animal health, public health and food security. It is focusing initially on fresh milk operations and poultry projects, asking operators to share data on volumes and usage patterns.

The step comes against a wider backdrop of concern about antimicrobial resistance. A Saudi study published in PubMed found that many antimicrobial agents used in poultry have importance in human medicine, raising the risk that inappropriate use could undermine treatment options. More recent review research has warned that poorly controlled use in livestock and the food chain accelerates the spread of resistant bacteria and resistance genes.

Saudi Arabia has been building a One Health approach to antimicrobial resistance, linking human, animal and environmental policy. Weqaa said the new disclosure regime is meant to strengthen prevention, improve husbandry practices and make supply chains more reliable. It urged farm managers to coordinate with the centre for guidance on implementation.

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