Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat Farmers

Abstract

Simple SummaryOveruse or inappropriate use of antibiotics in agriculture has been implicated in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, a significant and growing public health threat. In a previous study, we found that Missouri goats had a higher percentage of antibiotic residues at slaughter than predicted based on the national average, so we undertook this study to understand contributing factors. As farmers are typically the ones administering antibiotics to their animals, we set out to investigate Missouri goat farmers’ knowledge and attitudes regarding antibiotics, veterinarians, and antibiotic resistance using qualitative research interview methods. Our aims were to determine circumstances leading to farmers’ administration of antibiotics, farmers’ decision process resulting in the use of antibiotics, the role of veterinarians, and farmers’ perceptions about antibiotic resistance. The following themes emerged: how farmers detect illnesses in individual goats, herd health management, where farmers obtain antibiotics, and farmers’ thoughts about antibiotic resistance. Our findings highlighted the need for more emphasis on goat health management during veterinary education and the need for improved working relationships between veterinarians and farmers to promote appropriate antibiotic use and prevent the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria.AbstractUse of low dose, prophylactic antibiotics contributes to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In one study, goat meat in Missouri was found to have a higher percentage of antibiotic residues at slaughter than the national average, so we attempted to identify factors related to goat production that may contribute to this issue. Using the knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB) model, we interviewed 11 Missouri goat farmers about factors affecting antibiotic use. Most of the farmers did not have specific protocols for managing illnesses and only relied on veterinarians for major health issues. Many felt veterinarians lacked knowledge about goat medicine so instead relied on other farmers’ or their own experiences for treatment modalities. While most agreed that antibiotic resistance was a concern, only 4 of the 11 indicated that they only used antibiotics when prescribed by the veterinarian. Veterinarians should be relied on and valued for their medical expertise, but they are not always being utilized in this manner. Therefore, veterinary education should emphasize goat health management to a greater extent than it currently does, and soft skills to build collaborative relationships with farmers should be taught to promote preventative health measures and more judicious use of antibiotics.

Assessment of Farmers’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Resistance

“…Although there are many reasons that direct farmers to use antibiotics without consulting a veterinarian, self-diagnosis of diseases is a significant one. In a study on antibiotic use in goat farms conducted by Landfried et al, [15] the vast majority of farmers stated that they had sufficient knowledge about the behavior of animals and ability to identify abnormalities that might indicate a disease. The cost of veterinary services is one of the most important factors leading farmers to use antibiotics without consulting a veterinarian.…”

“…In fact, studies showed that healthcare workers were quite aware of the resistance problem [20,21,22]. However, it has been reported that farmers working in the livestock sector do not have sufficient awareness of the severity of the problems caused by antibiotic resistance [15,23]. In this study, the participants were firstly asked whether they had knowledge on antibiotic resistance before additional questions concerning antibiotic resistance and most of them responded negatively to this first question.…”

“…Following this study, the questionnaire was revised and finalized in accordance with suggestions and data were collected in the study population. The questionnaire, which consisted of five sections and 42 questions, was constructed by taking into consideration the questions of the WHO organization and previous similar studies [5,13,14,15,16].…”

Use of Antibiotics against Bacterial Infections on Dairy Sheep and Goat Farms: Patterns of Usage and Associations with Health Management and Human Resources

“…Another study performed in the United Kingdom, in 26 sheep farms, focusing on the potential associations between antibiotic administration and development of antimicrobial resistance, reported that farmers engaged in preventative measures, but they deflected responsibility for reducing antibiotic resistance to veterinarians [ 2 ]. In goat farms, Landfried et al [ 3 ] investigated the patterns of antibiotic use in 11 goat herds and found that in only four farms were antibiotics administered based on a veterinary prescription.…”

Prevalence and Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern of Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae and Escherichia coli in Dairy Goats with Clinical and Subclinical Mastitis

“…Antimicrobial therapy is used to treat mastitis in small ruminants along with antibiotic susceptibility testing to ensure optimum therapeutic action (Landfried et al, 2018). The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has become a major threat to animal and human health (Parra et al, 2017).…”