Longitudinal study on antimicrobial consumption and resistance in rabbit farming

•Overall antimicrobial consumption (AMC) decreased in rabbits raised for meat in Italy.•Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is mostly correlated with AMC at herd level, but AMR may persist despite low AMC.•Overall colistin consumption reduced in rabbits raised for meat but at the cost of increased fluoroquinolone use.•mcr-1 was widely carried in commensal Escherichia coli, but mcr-2 was not detected.•Unlike other food-producing animals, commensal E. coli from rabbits were almost fully wild-type to β-lactams. Reliable indicators of antimicrobial consumption (AMC) measured with harmonised data and supported by indicators for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at herd level are necessary to target antimicrobial misuse in food-producing animals. AMC data in 2010–2015 in 32 Italian industrial rabbit holdings weighted with semester production and standardised with animal daily doses (ADDs) were collected. Herd-level AMR against eight antimicrobials was assessed in Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus hirae collected in 2014–2015. Escherichia coli were assessed for mcr-1 and mcr-2 genes. To produce 1 kg of live rabbit, a mean of 71.8 ADDs was used. Overall AMC reduced over time (P