Assessing the economic impact of an endemic disease: the case of mastitis

Abstract

A large part of the world's resources are used to produce animal products. Efficient use of these resources is important to improve social well-being. Endemic animal diseases decrease production efficiency, because they require a higher level of input to produce the same amount of output or result in a lower output with the same amount of input. The optimal level of production with and without disease differs from farm to farm and depends on varying economic circumstances. Given these difficulties, making an accurate theoretical estimation of the economic impact of endemic diseases is challenging. Current approaches towards the economic assessment of endemic diseases are, therefore, quite pragmatic. For on-farm decision-making, the total costs consist of failure costs and preventive costs. Failure costs are associated with production losses (i.e. decreases in milk production, mortality and culling), treatment costs (i.e. veterinary treatment, drugs, and discarded milk) and the use of other resources associated with the occurrence of disease (i.e. increased labour costs). Preventive costs are associated with preventive measures in terms of equipment, consumables (e.g. diagnostics and chemicals) and the use of other resources to prevent diseases (i.e. increased labour). There is a substitution relationship between failure costs and preventive costs. That means that, in order to maximise profit at the farm level, the amount of resources invested in prevention should be chosen in such a way that total costs are minimised. The most studied endemic disease in animal production is mastitis. Most publications on mastitis only assess failure costs, and studies on assessing the total costs and best methods to determine an optimal level of prevention are scarce. Future challenges lie in researching frameworks that can assist decision-makers to establish optimal prevention levels for endemic diseases.

Financial and economic analyses of the impact of cattle mastitis on the profitability of Egyptian dairy farms

“…This finding does not match the value of $19,889 [ 26 ], with an average cost per CM case of 28,760.9 LE. This result is discordant with previously reported values of $179 [ 10 ], $254 [ 11 ], $266 [ 12 ], $444 [ 13 ], €500 [ 44 ], $518 [ 14 ], €519 [ 5 ], and €269 [ 45 ].…”

Antimicrobial resistance profiles of 5 common bovine mastitis pathogens in large Chinese dairy herds

“…Mastitis is a major economic burden on the dairy industry, affecting milk production and milk quality (Abebe et al, 2016;Hogeveen and Van Der Voort, 2017). Numerous microorganisms associated with cases of mastitis have been isolated (Krömker and Leimbach, 2017;Vakkamäki et al, 2017); the most frequently isolated pathogens associated with clinical mastitis (CM) in China are Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., NAS, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, and Staphylococcus aureus .…”

<p>Enhanced Antibacterial Activity of Silver Nanoparticles Combined with Hydrogen Peroxide Against Multidrug-Resistant Pathogens Isolated from Dairy Farms and Beef Slaughterhouses in Egypt</p>

“…[8][9][10] Among other diseases, mastitis is a multifactorial disease affecting milk production and quality in dairy farms. 11 Taken into account, the major sources of milk contamination in dairy farms include handling, management type, and hygienic practices within the farm, 12 and consequently numerous microorganisms can be derived from milk and the surrounding environment at farm level, representing vital sources of foodborne pathogens. 13 This issue constitutes a major public health hazard, whereas the most frequently causing and isolated pathogens are Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli O157: H7, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.…”