Work by SRUC and Food Standards Scotland has demonstrated that the rate of antibiotic resistance remains steady and relatively low. For the second successive year, data was collected on commensal E coli cultured from the faeces of healthy livestock presenting at abattoirs in Scotland.

Once again, the levels of non-susceptible E coli from poultry and pigs were greater than those detected from cattle and sheep, but levels for each animal species remained relatively stable when compared with 2017.

Dr Geoff Foster, microbiology manager at SRUC Veterinary Services, said: “Reducing the levels of non-sensitive microbes to antibiotics in food-producing animals is important to both animal and human health. This is our second year of full data and, while farmers, vets and the wider public should welcome stability in the data, we have a shared responsibility to combat anti-microbial resistance.”