Today, farmers travelled to Johnstown Castle for DairyBEEF2019. The open day hosted several villages and covered all aspects of dairy-beef production.

In the Calf Rearing / Calf Health Village, the Department of Agriculture’s Caroline Garvan and Julie Bolten gave a detailed talk on antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

On Irish dairy and beef farms, some of the more common conditions in calves necessitating treatment with antibiotics are: scour; pneumonia; navel ill; joint ill; and septicaemia.

Caroline Garvan addressing the crowd at the DairyBEEF2019 open day in Johnstown Castle. She is holding the recently published ‘Code of Good Practice Regarding the Responsible Prescribing and Use of Antibiotics in Farm Animals’

In Ireland, scour is the most common cause of death in neonatal calves less than one month of age, while pneumonia is the most frequent killer of calves aged between one and five months.

They explained that in order to address the rising problem of AMR, reducing the dependence on antibiotics and the amount being used on farms is fundamental.

How?

They outlined that – to do this – farmers must focus their efforts on improving animal health and disease prevention through better farm management practices and good animal husbandry; as is always the case, prevention is better than the cure.

To begin with, it is essential that calves receive an adequate volume of good quality colostrum in the first two hours after birth.

Colostrum derived passive immunity is vital to the health, performance and welfare of new-born calves and greatly reduces the need for antibiotic treatments, both in the first few weeks of life and throughout the animal’s lifetime.

In all age groups, good biosecurity, thorough vaccination policies, adequate housing, nutrition, optimal stocking densities and parasite control are the corner-stones of disease prevention.

Antibiotics must not be used to compensate for poor farm management practices. Increased use of vaccines will reduce disease levels and the need to use antibiotics.

On the day, the ‘Six Rights’ that should be applied when using antibiotics were explained.

Julie Bolton speaking at the DairyBEEF2019 open day in Johnstown Castle

1. Right veterinary diagnosis

Accurate diagnosis is essential to identify if an animal is suffering from a bacterial infection that will benefit from treatment with an antibiotic. Veterinary practitioners are best placed to make this decision.

2. Right animal

Only an animal that has a bacterial disease should be treated with an antibiotic.

3. Right veterinary medicine

Antibiotics should only be used when absolutely necessary, and when the vet has diagnosed that there is a bacterial disease present.

The antibiotic chosen for treatment should be effective to treat against the particular bacteria causing the disease.

Bacterial isolates should ideally be tested for antibiotic sensitivity to ensure that there are no problems with resistance.

4. Right dose

Antibiotics should be administered as per the instructions on the prescription. Animal weights should be estimated as accurately as possible. Under dosing animals accelerates the rate of resistance development.

5. Right duration

Antibiotics should be given as directed by the vet. Do not stop the course prematurely as this will not fully treat the disease and may result in resistance to this antibiotic in the future.

6. Right storage and disposal

All medicines should be stored according to the manufacturer’s instructions in order to maintain their efficacy.

All out-of-date medicines, containers and application equipment (including needles to a sharps container) should be placed in appropriate clinical waste containers.

Antibiotics should never be disposed of with domestic rubbish or poured down the drain or toilet as this leads to development of resistant bacteria in the environment.

Take home messages:
  • Reducing the quantity of antibiotics being used in the both the human and animal health sector is paramount to addressing the challenge of AMR;
  • Better animal health through improved animal husbandry will reduce the need for antibiotics.
  • The ‘Six Rights’ must be followed when using antibiotics.