Glossarium

The Population Correction Unit (PCU) is a theoretical unit of measurement developed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2009 and adopted across Europe and Canada. It takes into account a country’s animal population over a year, along with the estimated weight of each particular species at the time of treatment with antibiotics. Although it is an estimation, it does enable year-on-year comparisons to be made and trends to be seen. Interpretation : 1 PCU = 1 kg. For example, a 50 mg/PCU figure for food-producing animals would mean that on average, and over the course of a year, 50 mg of antibiotic active ingredient was used for every kg of body weight at the average theoretical standardized treatment weight for the species or species subgroup. For example, the PCU concept considers that the theoretical average weight for antibiotics use in grow-finish pigs is 65 kg, This theoretical weight is a simple mathematical average between nursery pig weight (25 kg) and slaughter weight (105 kg). This weight represents effectively the average weight of a grow-finish pig but all swine health professionals and pig owners know there is very little antibiotic used at this proposed average weight. Adapted from "Veterinary medicine directorate GB"