Canadian Dairy Network for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Resistance (CaDNetASR): An On-Farm Surveillance System

Abstract

Canada has implemented on-farm antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance systems for food-producing animals under the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance (CIPARS); however, dairy cattle have not been included in that program yet. The objective of this manuscript was to describe the development and implementation of the Canadian Dairy Network for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Resistance (CaDNetASR). An Expert Panel (EP) of researchers was created to lead the development of the dairy surveillance system. The EP initiated a draft document outlining the essential elements of the surveillance framework. This document was then circulated to a Steering Committee (SC), which provided recommendations used by the EP to finalize the framework. CaDNetASR has the following components: (1) a herd-level antimicrobial use quantification system; (2) annually administered risk factor questionnaires; and (3) methods for herd-level detection of AMR in three sentinel enteric pathogens (generic Escherichia coli, Campylobacter spp., and Salmonella spp.) recovered from pooled fecal samples collected from calves, heifers, cows, and the manure pit. A total of 144 dairy farms were recruited in five Canadian provinces (British-Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Québec, and Nova-Scotia), with the help of local herd veterinarians and regional field workers, and in September 2019, the surveillance system was launched. 97.1 and 94.4% of samples were positive for E. coli, 63.8, and 49.1% of samples were positive for Campylobacter spp., and 5.0 and 7.7% of samples were positive for Salmonella spp., in 2019 and 2020, respectively. E. coli was equally distributed among all sample types. However, it was more likely that Campylobacter spp. were recovered from heifer and cow samples. On the other hand, it was more common to isolate Salmonella spp. from the manure pit compared to samples from calves, heifers, or cows. CaDNetASR will continue sampling until 2022 after which time this system will be integrated into CIPARS. CaDNetASR will provide online access to farmers and veterinarians interested in visualizing benchmarking metrics regarding AMU practices and their relationship to AMR and animal health in dairy herds. This will provide an opportunity to enhance antimicrobial stewardship practices on dairy farms in Canada.

Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli and Other Antimicrobial-Resistant Gram-Negative Pathogens Isolated from Bovine Mastitis: A One Health Perspective

“…Integrated surveillance programs that report on the presence of AMR in livestock animals, including dairy cattle, have already been implemented in a few parts of the world [86,87]. In Canada, the CaDNet program consists of coordinated data collection on farms in five regions across Canada.…”

“…Antimicrobial stewardship is an important element in a multifaceted approach to combat AMR [86]. In general, modifying treatment protocols and on-farm practices is challenging [87]. Mastitis control practices aim to prevent the occurrence of new intramammary infections and eliminate existing cases of CM.…”

Recording of calf diseases for potential use in breeding programs: a case study on calf respiratory illness and diarrhea

“…The survey was provided to a convenience sample of producers in Southwestern Ontario known to have good on-farm recording practices that were already participating in the Canadian Dairy Network for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Resistance. This network aims to improve stewardship of antimicrobial use on Canadian dairy farms (Fonseca et al 2022). To be eligible for the current study, farms had to be enrolled in DHI and had to be recording calf respiratory illness and calf diarrhea within onfarm recording systems.…”

Standardization and evaluation of indicators for quantifying antimicrobial use on U.S. dairy farms

“…However, conclusive evidence that AMU in dairy farms leads to AMR infections that cause extended illnesses or deaths in dairy cattle is still lacking, implying the presence of multiple factors influencing the epidemiology of AMR diseases (de Verdier et al, 2012;Cummings et al, 2013;Owen et al, 2017;Bokma et al, 2020), as well as exposing the lack of quantitative data to allow causal inference (Cummings et al, 2013;Owen et al, 2017). Therefore, gathering quantitative data about AMU is a crucial step to understanding the relationship between AMU and the development of AMR (MacFadden et al, 2016) and informing antimicrobial stewardship (Redding et al, 2019;Schrag et al, 2020c;Cheng et al, 2022;Fonseca et al, 2022).…”

“…Scientists and governments worldwide have proposed different indicators to quantify AMU in cattle (Redding et al, 2019;Brault et al, 2019a;Schrag et al, 2020a;Cheng et al, 2022;Fonseca et al, 2022). An indicator is usually calculated using a division equation with different combinations of animal, antimicrobial, and temporal information as the numerator and denominator.…”