A survey of dairy cow farmers in the United Kingdom: knowledge, attitudes and practices surrounding antimicrobial use and resistance

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is among the most pressing challenges facing humanity. This survey of dairy cow farmers (n=372) was conducted to explore knowledge, attitudes and practices surrounding veterinary medicine use and to identify farmer-led solutions to reducing, replacing and refining antimicrobial use. Antimicrobials were the most commonly reported veterinary medicines used. Twenty-two per cent of the antibiotics used by dairy farmers contained a highest priority critically important active ingredient. Mastitis was rated as the most important health and welfare challenge and was the most common reason for medicine use. Frequency of veterinary contact was associated with a decrease in the use of antibiotic footbaths, more ‘responsible’ treatment choices and increased knowledge of AMR. Purchasing medicine from a vet practice rather than elsewhere was associated with an increased likelihood of disposing of waste milk responsibly. These findings highlight the important role of veterinarians in guiding responsible medicine use. Ninety per cent of participants stated that they were trying to reduce their antimicrobial use. Farmers suggested a wide array of alternative treatments and potential interventions for managing herd health. Findings from this project could be used to target education and training surrounding best practice, supporting the important role that farmers play in protecting public health.

Farmer and Veterinary Practices and Opinions Related to Fertility Testing and Pregnancy Diagnosis of UK Dairy Cows

“…Altogether, this limits the power of our study and calls for caution before extrapolating these results to the UK-wide dairy industry. Response rates in our survey were slightly below those typically obtained with this type of surveys [10-15%; www.surveygyzmo.com; (12)]. Higher response rates have been reported for postal or interview-based dairy farmer surveys (13,14), however, online surveys such as ours have distinct advantages, in that they allow distribution of questionnaires to wide target population(s) as well as facilitate reliable processing and analyses of response data, they provide anonymity to participants, and they avoid interviewer bias, among other benefits.…”

Antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance: standpoint and prescribing behaviour of Italian cattle and pig veterinarians

“…AMR and AMU issues have been largely debated in the recent decades. In the European context, several studies investigated the opinions, knowledge and perceptions regarding AMR in different populations, from junior doctors (Pulcini et al 2011), to dairy cow farmers (Higham et al 2018), farmers (Visschers et al 2015(Visschers et al , 2016Di Martino et al 2019), and the general public (Andr e et al 2010). Additionally, the veterinarians' points of view and prescribing behaviour were investigated in the European context (Speksnijder et al 2015;McDougall et al 2017;Van Cleven et al 2018).…”

Molecular epidemiology of Escherichia coli producing CTX-M and plasmid AmpC-type β-lactamases from dairy farms identifies a dominant plasmid encoding CTX-M-32 but no evidence for transmission to humans in the same geographical region

“…in so-called dry cow therapy, an antibacterial preparation inserted into a cow’s udder between lactations to prevent against mastitis. 15 A survey of dairy farms in England and Wales in 2012 revealed that the fourth generation cephalosporin (4GC) cefquinome (another HP-CIA) was the most used dry cow therapy treatment 16 ; in 2017, however, only 5.3% of total dry cow therapy active ingredients were HP-CIAs. Indeed, there has been a significant decline in the use of HP-CIAs on dairy farms in the UK.…”