Dairy veterinarians' views on antimicrobial use, resistance and treatment practices

Abstract

Veterinarians are being asked to provide more oversight of antibiotics used on dairies and promote stewardship of these drugs because of the risk for development of antimicrobial resistance. As organizations work to develop stewardship guidelines, gathering data on veterinarians' views and actual use can better inform those guidelines. The purpose of this project was to survey dairy veterinarians to understand current antimicrobial use practices and views on antimicrobial resistance. A SO-question online survey was developed and a link sent to members of the Academy of Dairy Veterinary Consultants. The final response rate of 41 % (58 of 143) included only practicing veterinarians. Fifty-nine percent did not believe that the current use of antimicrobials on dairy farms contributed to antimicrobial resistance in human pathogens. Most of the respondents (83 % ) felt that there was unnecessary use of antimicrobials on dairies, particularly in pre-weaned calves, primarily due to protocol non-compliance and farmers' or employees' misidentification of healthy animals as sick and treatment of them with antimicrobials. About half the respondents always had written treatment protocols for their clients, and 40% always provided training on those protocols. Blanket dry-cow therapy was recommended by 65% of the practitioners. The results of this survey provide a baseline of western, large dairy herd veterinary antimicrobial use and recommendations. Responses indicated opportunities for dairy practitioners to improve some antimicrobial stewardship practices that could reduce antimicrobial use.