What are best strategies to cut the use of antibiotics in the dairy?

The dairy industry wants to take responsibility for antibiotics use, so we need focus on lowering frequency of health issues. Where can we gain the most and the fastest?

Both the degree (amount)and the proper use of antibiotics are coming under greater scrunity. Therefore, the strategy will require decreasing the use of antibiotics where possible while at the same time ensuring usage in a logical, legal manner to lessen the potential for residues.

Your veterinarian should be an excellent resource of specific strategies and steps in this area. Proper use of antibiotics is a very prominent topic in dairy veterinary circles so they should be very interested in assisting in this area.

General approach - Pay attention to the simple things

On nearly every milking dairy in the world, the majority of antibiotics are used to treat clinical mastitis and (to a lesser degree) uterine infections. These two conditions therefore deserve the first level of attention on most dairies.

Steps to decrease usage for clinical mastitis
1. Prevention: Review and regularly re-enforce sound mastitis control key practices
a. Maintain environmental conditions to keep cows clean and dry 24 hours a day
b. Perform proper premilking preparation that results in clean and dry teats and teat-ends
c. Complete coverage post-milking with a germicidal teat dip
d. Dry cow antibiotic to resolve existing infections

2. Treatment: Implement protocols for proper usage of antibiotics for clinical mastitis cases
a. Review clinical mastitis identification procedures
b. Use standardized logical and legal treament protocols using drugs labeled for clinical mastitis
c. Complete the course of therapy to lessen relapses
d. Carefully observe milk and meat withholds, testing for residues where possible.
e. Identify chronic cows and plan their eventual exit

Steps to decrease useage for uterine infections
1. Prevention: Review and regularly re-enforce sound uterine infection control key practices

a. Maintain environmental conditions to keep cows clean and dry 24 hours a day during all phases of an animals life.
b. Maintain a high level of cleanliness in calving and maternity areas
c. Emphasis the need during calving assistance for patience, gentleness, lubrication, and strict cleanliness of personnel and equipment

2. Treatment: Implement proper usage of antibiotics for uterine infections
a. Review normal versus abnormal uterine discharges
b. Use standardized logical and legal treament protocols using drugs labeled for uterine infections
c. Complete the course of therapy to lessen relapses
d. Carefully observe milk and meat withholds, testing for residues where possible.

All of the above reflect simple principles, but are still important to achieve results. Work with your veterinarian to more fully develop prevention and treatment plans for your herd.

Thanks

Reduction of antibiotics in the dairy industry goes through two paths:
1) curative, ie the correct treatment of a sick cow or a sick calf
2) preventive, or make a couple stay healthy

Pay attention that reduction may never be a goal on its own. It must be a result from a previous method used. So targeted and efficient treatmen of individual sick animals (almost always result in reduction) and strive for healthy couples.

Curative
For individual sick animals following the treatment plan is always the next step:
- Make the correct diagnosis (always first!)
- Choice of treatment guided by your treatmentplan
- Correct handling of the treatment itself

During and after treatment, the results are recorded and compared against expectations.

In all four steps (correct diagnosis, choice of treatment, proper treatment and comparison of the results with the expectations) gain can be made to target the treatment better and better. With as a logical result reduction.

Prevention
Maintaining healthy flocks of cattle depends on the balance between resistance and infection pressure.

Resistance is negatively affected by three factors:
- Infectious agents such as BHV, BVDV, Salmonella's and Johne's
- Food if it appears that there is a NEB, or watery and / or undigested manure, or an inadequate mineral / vitamin supply
- Stress (heat stress, overcrowding, isolation around calving, etc.)

Infection pressure is the contact with the number of germs present and has to do with hygiene (manure!) and climate.

The items above are step by step and more fully described at www.vanstadtotwad.nl, by clicking on farm animals. It's a dutch site but Google translates it for you. ;-)