Relationship between antimicrobial usage, management factors and animal health and welfare indicators in Swiss dairy cattle
Abstract
Health and welfare of dairy cows as well as antimicrobial usage (AMU) and the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are ongoing concerns for farmers, consumers, and the society. Dairy cow health and welfare can be assessed with the use of animal-based and data-based indicators. The evaluation of AMU in Switzerland is enabled by data from the information-system on AMU in veterinary medicine (IS-ABV). The aim of this study is to investigate the associations between health and welfare indicators, management factors, AMU and AMR patterns. In a first step, a set of indicators to assess health and welfare of dairy cows was put together with the use of existing welfare schemes, previous research in Switzerland and expert opinion. These indicators were then used for assessment on 50 Swiss dairy farms grouped into farms with high (n= 22) and low (n=28) AMU based on data from IS-ABV. To determine the current situation of AMR, fecal samples were taken from 15 cows and 5 preweaning calves per farm. Samples were inoculated in a selective E. coli-medium and tested for AMR using the broth microdilution method. Additionally, a questionnaire was used to collect information about animal husbandry and management procedures, including the use of antimicrobial agents. The application of the health and welfare indicators in the field has proved to be feasible even under diverse conditions and husbandry systems. As of now, data acquisition for data-based indicators is still under way and analysis of possible associations between animal health/welfare and AMU is the next step. Preliminary results from analyzed fecal samples present a mostly unsurprising situation of AMR on these 50 farms. More comprehensive analyses of the AMR data will be available at the time of the conference.
