Antibiotic Use and Resistance in Animal Farming: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study on Knowledge and Practices among Farmers in Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is a major emerging global public health threat. Farmers in the Khartoum state are believed to misuse antibiotics in animal farming leading to daily exposure to resistant bacteria and antibiotic residues. Hence, farmers are at potential risk exposure to bacteria, zoonotic infection and toxicity. We hypothesized that farmers' misuse of antibiotics could be due to their ignorance of the importance of optimal use of antibiotics, the potential health hazards and the economical waste associated with antibiotic misuse practices. In the present study, we investigated knowledge and practices among farmers regarding antibiotic use and resistance. For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was conducted in Khartoum state where data were collected from 81 farmers using structured interviews. Data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Fifty-two per cent of farmers were uneducated or had studied for < 6 years. The majority reported antibiotic use for treatment and prevention while only 5% stated use for growth promotion. Antibiotic group treatment for both sick and healthy animals was commonly practiced among most farmers. The most commonly used group of antibiotics was the quinolones, which was reported by one-third. Only 30% of the farmers had heard of antibiotic resistance and provided their definition. Almost half were not aware of the commonly transferred zoonotic infections between humans and animals. The farmers consume 1-2 meals/day from their own farm products. A significant association between low education, poor knowledge of farmers on antibiotic use, antibiotic resistance and zoonotic infections was found. This association may play a vital role in the present practiced misuse of antibiotics. Our findings on farmers' practices could be used as baseline information in defining the gaps related to antibiotic use and resistance in animal farming in Sudan. It can thus serve as a foundation for future interventions.

The use of antibiotics on small dairy farms in rural Peru

“…Education, as expected, was positively associated with knowledge. Eltayb et al (2012) also concluded that higher levels of education were significantly associated with higher levels of knowledge of antibiotic resistance and disease among farmers in Khartoum. Buying antibiotics from a feed-store was also associated with a higher knowledge score, most likely because a farmer who went to purchase antibiotics him/herself may have been more knowledgeable about animal health and confident in his/her ability to treat the disease.…”

“…Three herds of cattle belonging to Maasai pastoralists in Kenya were followed for four years by Roderick et al (2000) who reported that oxytetracycline was used at a rate of 0.20–1.00 treatments per animal-year. In Sudan, tetracyclines, penicillins, quinolones and sulfonamide-trimethoprim antibiotics were used in 25, 18, 32 and 4% of treatments (n=73), respectively (Eltayb et al, 2012). In contrast, a survey of large dairy and beef farms in Lima reported that 15 active ingredients were commonly used (Solimano-Maza et al, 2011), while a survey of 113 dairy herds in Pennsylvania reported that 24 different types of antibiotics were used (Sawant et al, 2005).…”

Addressing Antimicrobial Resistance: An Overview of Priority Actions to Prevent Suboptimal Antimicrobial Use in Food-Animal Production

“…The farmers’ age was likely to be a proxy for recent education. Low education and poor knowledge of farmers regarding AMU were associated with increased AMR and zoonotic infections in a Sudan study (Eltayb et al, 2012). Both herd characteristics and farm management impact the level of AMU, and explain heterogeneity within farms: for instance, 25% of the French poultry herds consumed between one and two thirds of the total antimicrobial amount (Chauvin et al, 2012).…”

Medical pluralism and livestock health: ethnomedical and biomedical veterinary knowledge among East African agropastoralists

“…Residents of low-income countries often approach livestock disease treatment using ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM), which encompasses indigenous or “traditional” beliefs, knowledge, skills and practices pertaining to the healthcare of animals [4, 5]. The majority of these societies also rely upon “biomedicine,” defined as the global medical system based upon western scientific principles and products (e.g., antibiotics) [6–9]. Reliance on veterinary biomedicine (VB) has received little anthropological attention [10].…”