Understanding Antibiotic Resistance as a Perceived Threat towards Dairy Cattle through Beliefs and Practices: A Survey-Based Study of Dairy Farmers
Antibiotic use is an important component in dairy herd management both to treat bacterial diseases and to maximize animal welfare. However, there is concern among scientists that antibiotic misuse and/or overuse by farmers might promote the emergence of resistant pathogens. We conducted a cross-sect...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-07-01
|
| Series: | Antibiotics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/8/997 |
| _version_ | 1797439898013138944 |
|---|---|
| author | Eleni Casseri Ece Bulut Sebastian Llanos Soto Michelle Wemette Alison Stout Amelia Greiner Safi Robert Lynch Paolo Moroni Renata Ivanek |
| author_facet | Eleni Casseri Ece Bulut Sebastian Llanos Soto Michelle Wemette Alison Stout Amelia Greiner Safi Robert Lynch Paolo Moroni Renata Ivanek |
| author_sort | Eleni Casseri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Antibiotic use is an important component in dairy herd management both to treat bacterial diseases and to maximize animal welfare. However, there is concern among scientists that antibiotic misuse and/or overuse by farmers might promote the emergence of resistant pathogens. We conducted a cross-sectional web-based questionnaire study with dairy farmers/managers in New York, USA to evaluate their (i) level of concern about antibiotic resistance and (ii) interest in adopting new judicious antibiotic use practices regarding mastitis treatment. A total of 118 responses were subjected to statistical analysis. The findings revealed that nearly half (45%) of study participants were undecided or disagreed that antibiotic resistance due to antibiotic use in dairy farming may negatively impact the health of dairy cattle. In contrast, the majority (78%) of participants self-reported that they do not treat with antibiotics at the first sign of mastitis, and the majority (66%) have either fully or partially implemented culture-based mastitis treatment on their farm. The self-reported adoption of culture-based mastitis treatment practices was statistically significantly associated with higher numbers of injectable and intramammary doses of antibiotics used on the participants’ farms. These findings will aid future research investigations on how to promote sustainable antibiotic use practices in dairy cattle. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:00:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2bf6854b75b04953886f4422f32a4099 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6382 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:00:22Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antibiotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-2bf6854b75b04953886f4422f32a40992023-11-30T23:04:29ZengMDPI AGAntibiotics2079-63822022-07-0111899710.3390/antibiotics11080997Understanding Antibiotic Resistance as a Perceived Threat towards Dairy Cattle through Beliefs and Practices: A Survey-Based Study of Dairy FarmersEleni Casseri0Ece Bulut1Sebastian Llanos Soto2Michelle Wemette3Alison Stout4Amelia Greiner Safi5Robert Lynch6Paolo Moroni7Renata Ivanek8Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Public and Ecosystem Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USACollege of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USAAntibiotic use is an important component in dairy herd management both to treat bacterial diseases and to maximize animal welfare. However, there is concern among scientists that antibiotic misuse and/or overuse by farmers might promote the emergence of resistant pathogens. We conducted a cross-sectional web-based questionnaire study with dairy farmers/managers in New York, USA to evaluate their (i) level of concern about antibiotic resistance and (ii) interest in adopting new judicious antibiotic use practices regarding mastitis treatment. A total of 118 responses were subjected to statistical analysis. The findings revealed that nearly half (45%) of study participants were undecided or disagreed that antibiotic resistance due to antibiotic use in dairy farming may negatively impact the health of dairy cattle. In contrast, the majority (78%) of participants self-reported that they do not treat with antibiotics at the first sign of mastitis, and the majority (66%) have either fully or partially implemented culture-based mastitis treatment on their farm. The self-reported adoption of culture-based mastitis treatment practices was statistically significantly associated with higher numbers of injectable and intramammary doses of antibiotics used on the participants’ farms. These findings will aid future research investigations on how to promote sustainable antibiotic use practices in dairy cattle.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/8/997antibiotic resistancejudicious antibiotic usedairy farmerquestionnaireculture-based mastitis treatmentattitudes |
| spellingShingle | Eleni Casseri Ece Bulut Sebastian Llanos Soto Michelle Wemette Alison Stout Amelia Greiner Safi Robert Lynch Paolo Moroni Renata Ivanek Understanding Antibiotic Resistance as a Perceived Threat towards Dairy Cattle through Beliefs and Practices: A Survey-Based Study of Dairy Farmers Antibiotics antibiotic resistance judicious antibiotic use dairy farmer questionnaire culture-based mastitis treatment attitudes |
| title | Understanding Antibiotic Resistance as a Perceived Threat towards Dairy Cattle through Beliefs and Practices: A Survey-Based Study of Dairy Farmers |
| title_full | Understanding Antibiotic Resistance as a Perceived Threat towards Dairy Cattle through Beliefs and Practices: A Survey-Based Study of Dairy Farmers |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Antibiotic Resistance as a Perceived Threat towards Dairy Cattle through Beliefs and Practices: A Survey-Based Study of Dairy Farmers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Antibiotic Resistance as a Perceived Threat towards Dairy Cattle through Beliefs and Practices: A Survey-Based Study of Dairy Farmers |
| title_short | Understanding Antibiotic Resistance as a Perceived Threat towards Dairy Cattle through Beliefs and Practices: A Survey-Based Study of Dairy Farmers |
| title_sort | understanding antibiotic resistance as a perceived threat towards dairy cattle through beliefs and practices a survey based study of dairy farmers |
| topic | antibiotic resistance judicious antibiotic use dairy farmer questionnaire culture-based mastitis treatment attitudes |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/8/997 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT elenicasseri understandingantibioticresistanceasaperceivedthreattowardsdairycattlethroughbeliefsandpracticesasurveybasedstudyofdairyfarmers AT ecebulut understandingantibioticresistanceasaperceivedthreattowardsdairycattlethroughbeliefsandpracticesasurveybasedstudyofdairyfarmers AT sebastianllanossoto understandingantibioticresistanceasaperceivedthreattowardsdairycattlethroughbeliefsandpracticesasurveybasedstudyofdairyfarmers AT michellewemette understandingantibioticresistanceasaperceivedthreattowardsdairycattlethroughbeliefsandpracticesasurveybasedstudyofdairyfarmers AT alisonstout understandingantibioticresistanceasaperceivedthreattowardsdairycattlethroughbeliefsandpracticesasurveybasedstudyofdairyfarmers AT ameliagreinersafi understandingantibioticresistanceasaperceivedthreattowardsdairycattlethroughbeliefsandpracticesasurveybasedstudyofdairyfarmers AT robertlynch understandingantibioticresistanceasaperceivedthreattowardsdairycattlethroughbeliefsandpracticesasurveybasedstudyofdairyfarmers AT paolomoroni understandingantibioticresistanceasaperceivedthreattowardsdairycattlethroughbeliefsandpracticesasurveybasedstudyofdairyfarmers AT renataivanek understandingantibioticresistanceasaperceivedthreattowardsdairycattlethroughbeliefsandpracticesasurveybasedstudyofdairyfarmers |