In 2024, a total of 87.46 tonnes of antibiotics were used in animals in Denmark – a modest increase of just under 1% compared to the previous year. The findings are presented in this year’s DANMAP report, which will be launched at a seminar on DTU’s campus in Kgs. Lyngby on 18 November 2025. You can register here: DANMAP Seminar 2025
The pig production accounted for the vast majority of the consumption (84%), while cattle and poultry accounted for 9% and 1%, respectively. When looking at bacteria from healthy animals in the general surveillance and their susceptibility to antibiotics, no major changes have been observed since 2019. This applies to bacteria such as E. coli, Campylobacter jejuni and salmonella. Moreover, in these bacteria, resistance to antibiotics that are important for human treatment remains very low or absent.
Pigs: small changes in antibiotic use – but continued rise in resistance
In 2024, the total antibiotic consumption for pigs, measured in kilograms, increased by less than 1%, while the proportion of pigs receiving treatment declined slightly. Weaners continued to be the group receiving the most treatments. The sharp increase in the use of certain antibiotic classes seen in 2022 and 2023 did not continue in 2024, apart from the use of macrolides in finisher pigs, which continued rising.
At the same time, E. coli from pigs became slightly more resistant, and less sensitive to all tested antibiotics – a decrease of 8 percentage points in full sensitivity. Curiously, the level of full sensitivity in salmonella (typhimurium and monophasic typhimurium) from Danish pork increased in 2024.
In 2024, E. coli from healthy pigs showed a modest increase in resistance to antibiotics of the aminoglycoside type (amikacin, gentamicin) and macrolides (azithromycin), which may be linked to a rising use of these classes of antibiotics in pig production in recent years,” says senior researcher Sofia Duarte from the DTU National Food Institute.
A similar trend was observed in salmonella from Danish pork. Although the bacteria generally became more susceptible, resistance to certain specific antibiotics increased: macrolides (azithromycin) in monophasic Salmonella typhimurium. At the same time, resistance to aminoglycosides (amikacin and gentamicin) did not decline in Salmonella typhimurium after having risen in 2022 and 2023.
In DANMAP 2024, researchers for the first time identified the genes that render salmonella bacteria from pork resistant. These genetic findings confirmed the results already observed in laboratory tests.
Cattle: more antibiotic use – but less resistance
In cattle, antibiotic use increased by 4%, measured in kilograms, despite a decline in the number of animals. The most notable increase was observed in young cattle, particularly in the use of amphenicols and macrolides.
Surprisingly, E. coli from young cattle became less resistant in 2024. Fewer bacteria showed resistance to most tested substances, and more were sensitive to all types of tested antibiotics – an increase of 11 percentage points. At the same time, the proportion of multi-resistant E. coli fell by 10 percentage points.
“These results contradict the expectation that higher antibiotic use leads to more resistance, and it cannot be explained based on the collected data. Therefore, further investigation is needed to understand the reason behind this sharp drop in resistant E. coli from calves,” says Sofia Duarte.
Poultry: lower antibiotic use and more sensitive bacteria
Antibiotic use in all Danish poultry fell by 13% from 2023 to 2024. This appears to have had a positive effect in the occurrence of resistant bacteria from chicken. In 2024, more Campylobacter jejuni bacteria were sensitive to all tested antibiotics – an increase of 8 percentage points. There were also fewer E. coli bacteria with resistance to most tested antibiotics, and resistance to a specific class of antibiotics (fluoroquinolones), which is often used to treat gastrointestinal infections in humans, continued to decline.
A new observation in this year’s report is that Campylobacter coli shows similar resistance levels in both humans and chickens. This is the first time DANMAP has reported on this bacterium in both humans and chicken. The findings suggest that chickens may be a source of infection with Campylobacter coli – just as they are already known to spread Campylobacter jejuni to humans.
Imported meat raises concern
The report also examines chicken and turkey meat sold in supermarkets in Denmark. Here, E. coli bacteria are monitored for resistance to third generation cephalosporins, which are antibiotics often used to treat serious infections in humans. These bacteria are monitored every two years in poultry meat randomly sampled from Danish retail.
In 2024, the occurrence remained below 5% in Danish chicken meat. But in imported meat, there were changes: a 21 percentage points increase in imported chicken meat and a 17 percentage points decrease in imported turkey meat. The changes observed in imported chicken meat may be due to the sampled meat coming from different countries than in previous monitoring years.
”A sudden increase in the occurrence of resistance, especially towards antibiotics that are important for human treatment, always raises concern. The results observed in E. coli from imported chicken meat do not represent an immediate cause for alarm, since they cannot be translated as a direct hazard to human health. However, it is definitely a finding to be closely followed upon in future DANMAP reports,” says Sofia Duarte.
Since 2023, DANMAP has also investigated whether E. coli with this particular resistance originating from animals and meat can be responsible for causing bloodstream infections in humans in Denmark. So far, no clear evidence has been found to support this.
Read more
Also read chapters 4, 6, and 7 of the DANMAP report.
Visit the DANMAP website and the DTU National Food Institute’s thematic site on antimicrobial resistance.
