Antimicrobial use for treatment of clinical mastitis in dairy herds from Brazil and its association with herd-level descriptors

Publication date: Available online 20 February 2020Source: Preventive Veterinary MedicineAuthor(s): Tiago Tomazi, Marcos Veiga dos SantosAbstractThe aims of this prospective and descriptive study were to: (a) characterize treatment profile and quantify antimicrobial consumption for treatment of clinical mastitis (CM) in dairy herds of Brazil; and, (b) determine the association of antimicrobial use (AMU) for treatment of CM and herd-level descriptors, such as herd size, average milk yield, bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC), bulk milk total bacterial count (BMTBC), season and housing type. Data on treatment practices were obtained from 19 of 20 dairy herds selected for the study for a period of 12 months per herd. Treatment protocols were recorded in each case of CM by the farm personnel using a form that included information at the cow- and treatment-level. The frequency of antimicrobial consumption for treatment of CM was determined monthly in units of defined daily dose (DDD) and expressed as antimicrobial treatment incidence (ATI; the number of DDD per 1,000 lactating cow-days). Mixed linear regression models were used to determine the association between log-transformed ATI and herd level descriptors. The overall monthly mean ATI was 21.9 DDD per 1,000 lactating cow-days (15.4 DDD per 1,000 lactating cow-days for intramammary compounds, and 6.4 DDD per 1,000 lactating cow-days for systemically administered antimicrobials). Among intramammary drugs, aminoglycosides had t...
Source: Preventive Veterinary Medicine - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research