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Mastitis is one of the most common diseases of dairy cattle. It has a high impact on farm economy, farmers' working time, and antimicrobial usage (AMU). Selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) is an effective means of reducing AMU without negatively affecting udder health. The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of SDCT implementation on farmer's income, working time, and AMU, using a bioeconomic model. A stochastic dairy simulation model (DairyHealthSim) based on a weekly model was used to simulate herd dynamics, reproduction, milk production, culling decisions, health outcomes, and the management of health events. A specific module was developed for the simulation of quarter-level intramammary infection (IMI) acquisition and elimination during the lactation and dry-off periods, and 25 different farm settings were defined to represent herds with various udder health situations. We then defined 20 scenarios of SDCT by combining both the use of different thresholds of somatic cell count and milk bacteriology for treatment allocation and the use of internal teat sealant (ITS). All SDCT protocols had a low impact on farmer's income, and we identified some protocols with a positive farm gross margin (up to 15.83 CA$/dried- cow). We also found that adding an ITS to all cows led to greater economic gain. The application of SDCT had a low impact on farmers' working time, except when milk bacteriology was used for decision-making. Antimicrobial treatment to all cows above 200,000 cells/mL at last control, with the use of ITS on all cows, seems a good choice in most dairy farms. These findings could be used to convince farmers to adopt this strategy at dry-off.
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BACKGROUND: Omphalitis is the third most common cause for diseases and infections in newborn calves. Its risk factors are well described in dairy production, but data in beef production is limited. OBJECTIVE: To identify and quantify the risk factors of omphalitis in cow-calf operations with seasonal indoor calving period. ANIMALS: Nine hundred sixty-four calves included from 22 cow-calf operations in central France were included. METHODS: A prospective cohort study involved data collection during two visits for each calf. Simple and multivariable logistic regression analyses evaluated the association between omphalitis and the variables. RESULTS: Among 964 included calves, 311 (32.3%) calves had an omphalitis. Accounting for farms' random effect, risk factors for omphalitis highlighted by the univariable analysis were: absence of navel disinfection (odds ratio (OR) = 2.3, [1.45-3.04]), wetness of bedding calving area (OR = 1.8-2.1, [0.78-2.83]-[0.63-3.57]), cleanliness of calves' pen (OR =1.6-2.8, [1.22-2.27]-[2.02-3.84]), wetness of calves' pen bedding (OR = 1.7-3.2, [1.12-2.06]-[3.08-3.84]), calf weight at birth >50â¯kg (OR = 2.0-5.0, [1.02-2.38]-[1.51-11.1]), umbilical cord length <3â¯cm (OR = 2.2-2.3, [1.53-3.11]-[1.24-4.38]), and sex (male vs female) (OR = 2.6, [2.08-3.69]). The multivariable analysis, accounting for farms' random effect, showed that the absence of navel disinfection (OR= 2.2, [1.44-3.09]), wetness of bedding calving area (OR = 1.9-2.4, [0.55-2.83]-[0.59-3.28]), calf weight at birth >50â¯kg (OR = 1.9-2.6, [1.03-2.56]-[1.43-12.5]) and sex (male vs female) (OR =2.4, [2.09-3.49]) were risk factors for omphalitis. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: These observations may help identify animals at early risk (>50â¯kg, male, short umbilical cord) and pay particular attention to the wetness of bedding and cleanliness of housing. This study highlights the importance of calving-pen bedding, calf characteristics and navel disinfection.
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Animales Recién Nacidos , Enfermedades de los Bovinos , Vivienda para Animales , Animales , Bovinos , Factores de Riesgo , Estudios Prospectivos , Femenino , Masculino , Enfermedades de los Bovinos/epidemiología , Francia/epidemiología , Estudios de Cohortes , Crianza de Animales Domésticos/métodosRESUMEN
To support farmers in their decisions related to Q fever, a dedicated economic assessment tool is developed. The present work describes the calculator, its economic rationale, and the supporting assumptions. The calculator integrates a yearly compartmental model to represent population dynamism and the main interactions between disorders linked to Q fever, especially reproductive disorders (abortion, retained foetal membranes, purulent vaginal discharge and endometritis, extra services, and calving-conception delays). The effects of the nontangible cost of the disease on human health, the welfare of the animals, and the workload of farmers were not integrated into the model. The model shows high-level sensitivity to the prevalence of Q fever in the herd prevaccination and to the costs of abortion and extra days of calving-conception intervals. Breakeven points, i.e., cost values that allow us to achieve positive vaccination benefits, are also reported. For herds with moderate or high prevalence rates of Q fever prevaccination (>30%), a vaccination benefit is observed. The vaccine should be considered a type of insurance in herds with low prevalence rates of Q fever prevaccination (≤20%). The calculator was developed to aid decision-making at the farm level, and no conclusion can be extrapolated as a generic trend based on the present work.
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Veterinarians are a pivotal force in addressing animal health and welfare surveillance, with a critical role in improving public health security and increasing the profits of livestock farmers. Yet, the veterinary profession is adversely affected by personnel shortages, particularly in rural areas. Since the health of people, animals and their shared environment are interconnected in a One Health perspective, a set of policies are required to ensure public health by attraction and retention of veterinarians in rural areas. In France, a tutored internship programme, financially subsiding students and mentors to execute a training period in remote rural areas, was promoted to better integrate and retain veterinary students ending their veterinary training. This paper aims to evaluate how veterinarians' tutored internships influences students' choices for rural practice, using three different statistical methods derived from causal inference theory. Using survey data for the period 2016-2020, we show that: (i) the average effect of the tutored internship on veterinarians' work in food animal sector is not significant; and that (ii) the tutored internship leads veterinarians with a low share of work in the food animal sector to have a rural practise after they graduated between 13 and 20% greater than those who did not participate in the tutored internship.
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Educación en Veterinaria , Internado y Residencia , Veterinarios , Medicina Veterinaria , Animales , Humanos , Estudiantes , Recursos HumanosRESUMEN
Antimicrobial resistance is a pandemic problem, causing substantial health and economic burdens. Antimicrobials are extensively used in livestock and aquaculture, exacerbating this global threat. Fostering the prudent use of antimicrobials will safeguard animal and human health. A lack of knowledge about alternatives to replace antimicrobials, and their effectiveness under field conditions, hampers changes in farming practices. This work aimed to understand the impact of strategies to reduce antimicrobial usage (AMU) in livestock and aquaculture, under field conditions, using a structured scoping literature review. The Extension for Scoping Reviews of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines (PRISMA-ScR) were followed and the Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Time and Setting (PICOTS) framework used. Articles were identified from CAB Abstracts, MEDLINE and Scopus. A total of 7505 unique research articles were identified, 926 of which were eligible for full-text assessment; 203 articles were included in data extraction. Given heterogeneity across articles in the way alternatives to antimicrobials or interventions against their usage were described, there was a need to standardize these by grouping them in categories. There were differences in the impacts of the strategies between and within species; this highlights the absence of a 'one-size-fits-all' solution. Nevertheless, some options seem more promising than others, as their impacts were consistently equivalent or positive when compared with animal performance using antimicrobials. This was particularly the case for bioactive protein and peptides, and feed/water management. The outcomes of this work provide data to inform cost-effectiveness assessments of strategies to reduce AMU.
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Antiinfecciosos , Ganado , Animales , Humanos , Acuicultura , Antiinfecciosos/uso terapéutico , Ácido Cítrico , GranjasRESUMEN
Chromium (Cr) has been reported to modulate blood biochemistry in dairy cows. However, there is a discrepancy in the literature regarding the effects of dietary Cr supplementation on various blood parameters. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of Cr supplementation in dairy cows on blood glucose, insulin, glucagon, nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA), cortisol, and serum total protein (STP) concentrations. Following relevant literature data extraction, a 3-level meta-analytical random effect model was fitted to the data expressed as standardized mean difference (SMD) of outcome measures of control versus Cr-supplemented cows (i.e., difference in mean between control and treatment group or pooled standard deviation). The SMD can be categorized as having a small effect (0.20), a moderate effect (0.50), and a large effect (0.80). The meta-regression identified the potential sources of heterogeneity, including the body weight of cows, experimental duration/duration of Cr supplementation, blood sampling time (3 wk before parturition until 4 wk after parturition categorized as the transition period, else as the nontransition period), and form of Cr complexes. Blood glucose did not differ significantly between control and Cr-supplemented cows with an estimated SMD of µ = 0.0071 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.212 to 0.226). The effect of Cr supplementation on blood insulin was also nonsignificant with an SMD of µ = 0.0007 (95% CI: -0.191 to 0.193). Cows receiving Cr supplements had significantly higher levels of glucagon than controls (95% CI: 0.116 to 0.489), with an estimated SMD = 0.303. Combined transition and nontransition data suggest Cr supplementation did not affect the concentration of NEFA. However, in transition cows, Cr supplementation significantly decreased blood NEFA levels as compared with controls (95% CI: -0.522 to -0.0039), with estimated SMD = -0.263. The estimated SMD was µ = -0.1983 (95% CI: -0.734 to 0.337) for cortisol and -0.0923 (95% CI: -0.316 to 0.131) for total protein. In summary, Cr supplementation in the transition cows decreased NEFA concentration. Blood glucose, insulin, cortisol, and STP concentrations were unaffected. However, Cr supplementation increased glucagon concentration.
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Glucemia , Glucagón , Femenino , Bovinos , Animales , Glucemia/metabolismo , Suplementos Dietéticos , Lactancia , Hidrocortisona , Cromo/farmacología , Ácidos Grasos no Esterificados , Insulina , Dieta/veterinaria , Periodo PospartoRESUMEN
Omphalitis is the third most frequent disease in newborn calves after neonatal diarrhea and bovine respiratory disease (BRD), but limited data on the prevalence and risk factors are available in the literature. Failure of passive immunity transfer (FPIT) is recognized as a major risk factor for diseases and mortality in calves. However, the association between omphalitis and FPIT remains poorly described. To assess this association, 964 suckler beef calves from 22 farms were included in a longitudinal cohort study for 5 months. Each calf was examined twice (mean ages: 4.4 and 11.1 days old) to diagnose omphalitis through clinical examination and ultrasonographic evaluation (USE) if necessary. Measurements of the total solids percentage (TS-%Brix) and total protein (TP) were performed on the serum during the first visit to evaluate the calves' passive immunity status. FPIT (fair and poor) was defined as serum %Brix < 8.1 or TP < 5.1 g/dL; among calves with omphalitis, 14% had FPIT and among calves without omphalitis 12% had FPIT. The omphalitis prevalence was 32.3% in calves without any other disease (overall prevalence of 30.9%). No statistical association between the prevalence of omphalitis and FPIT was observed. Further research is needed to identify the risk factors and promote the prevention measures for omphalitis in cow-calf systems, such as calving difficulty, hygiene of housing, and navel disinfection.
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The objective of this study is to determine the most effective time allocation for digital dermatitis management and to quantify the marginal economic gain from extra time devoted to digital dermatitis management. The model simulating foot disease occurrence and the associated management was Dairy Health Simulator©. Then, an econometric model was applied to identify the relationship between the dairy workshop's gross margin and time for lameness management as well as the hourly marginal gain curve associated with lameness management. The gross margin was optimized under two constraints, i.e., the overall time spent for lameness management and the mean lameness duration (mimicking cow welfare). The results show that allocating less time to lameness detection and more to footbath application can contribute as follows: (i) reduces time spent for lameness management, (ii) maintains the best welfare level, and (iii) obtains the highest gross margin. The optimal time to devote to footbath application ranged from 17.8 to 22.3 h/month. A hiring strategy was investigated, and the break-even point ranged from 16.1 to 19.8 h/month. The recommended time to spend on footbath application is relatively important; therefore, stakeholders should consider the importance of lameness to the dairy industry and should devote enough time for footbath applications.
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Introduction: Chromium (Cr) is an essential mineral that has been demonstrated to enhance milk production in dairy cows. This study aims to evaluate the effects of dietary Cr supplementation on dry matter intake (DMI), milk production and composition using a meta-analysis based on existing literature. Methods: A random effects meta-analysis was performed to investigate the effects of dietary Cr supplementation on DMI, milk production and composition. The heterogeneity was assessed using the I 2 statistic and Q test, while Egger's test was used to evaluate publication bias. Results: The meta-analysis discovered that Cr-supplemented cows had a significantly higher DMI compared to those not supplemented, with an increase of 0.72 kg/day [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.46-0.97]. The regression model indicated that DMI significantly increased by 0.9 g/kg of body weight (BW) and by 80.5 g for an increase of 1 mg of Cr supplement. The supplementation phase was associated with an increase in DMI, with an increase of 0.4582 kg/day for BFP (before parturition) and 0.853 kg/day for AFP (after parturition). The methionine and yeast forms of Cr increased DMI by 0.714 and 1.137 kg/day, respectively. The DMI was increased by 2.137 and 0.620 kg/day for multiparous (MP)+ primiparous (PP) cows and MP cows, respectively. Milk production was also increased by Cr supplementation, with an increase of 1.20 kg/day (95% CI, 0.65-1.76). The regression model indicated that milk production increased by 2.3 g/day for an increase of 1 kg of BW and by 122.4 g/day for an increase of 1 mg of Cr supplement. Milk production also increased with the duration of the experiment and days in milk. The amino acid and methionine forms of Cr complexes increased milk production by 1.645 and 1.448 kg/day, respectively. Milk production increased by 1.087 and 1.920 kg/day for MP and PP cows, respectively. Milk composition was not significantly affected by Cr supplementation. Egger's test for publication biases was not significant for all responses of interest. Discussion: The meta-analysis showed that Cr supplementation improves DMI and milk production in dairy cows. The results suggest that the supplementation phase, form of Cr, and parity should be considered when supplementing dairy cows with Cr. The results have important implications for the dairy industry and can contribute to the development of more effective feeding strategies for dairy cows.
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Foot disorders are costly health disorders in dairy farms, and their prevalence is related to several factors such as breed, nutrition, and farmer's management strategy. Very few modeling approaches have considered the dynamics of foot disorders and their interaction with farm management strategies within a holistic farm simulation model. The aim of this study was to estimate the cost of foot disorders in dairy herds by simulating strategies for managing lameness. A dynamic and stochastic simulation model (DairyHealthSim) was used to simulate the herd dynamics, reproduction management, and health events. A specific module was built for lameness and related herd-level management strategies. Foot disorder occurrences were simulated with a base risk for each etiology [digital dermatitis (DD), interdigital dermatitis, interdigital phlegmon, sole ulcer (SU), white line disease (WLD)]. Two state machines were implemented in the model: the first was related to the disease-induced lameness score (from 1 to 5), and the second concerned DD-state transitions. A total of 880 simulations were run to represent the combination of the following 5 scenarios: (1) housing (concrete vs. textured), (2) hygiene (2 different scraping frequencies), (3) the existence of preventive trimming, (4) different thresholds of DD prevalence detected and from which a collective footbath is applied to treat DD, and (5) farmer's ability to detect lameness (detection rate). Housing, hygiene, and trimming scenarios were associated with risk factors applied for each foot disorder etiologies. The footbath and lameness detection scenarios both determined the treatment setup and the policy of herd observance. The economic evaluation outcome was the gross margin per year. A linear regression model was run to estimate the cost per lame cow (lameness score ≥3), per case of DD and per week of a cow's medium lameness duration. The bioeconomic model reproduced a lameness prevalence varying from 26 to 98% depending on the management scenario, demonstrating a high capacity of the model to represent the diversity of the field situations. Digital dermatitis represented half of the total lameness cases, followed by interdigital dermatitis (28%), SU (19%), WLD (13%), and interdigital phlegmon (4%). The housing scenarios dramatically influenced the prevalence of SU and WLD, whereas scraping frequency and threshold for footbath application mainly determined the presence of DD. Interestingly, the results showed that preventive trimming allowed a better reduction in lameness prevalence than spending time on early detection. Scraping frequency was highly associated with DD occurrence, especially with a textured floor. The regression showed that costs were homogeneous (i.e., did not change with lameness prevalence; marginal cost equals average cost). A lame cow and a DD-affected cow cost 307.50 ± 8.40 (SD) and 391.80 ± 10.0 per year on average, respectively. The results also showed a cost of 12.10 ± 0.36 per week-cow lameness. The present estimation is the first to account for interactions between etiologies and for the complex DD dynamics with all the M-stage transitions, bringing a high level of accuracy to the results.
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Enfermedades de los Bovinos , Dermatitis , Dermatitis Digital , Enfermedades del Pie , Pezuñas y Garras , Femenino , Animales , Bovinos , Cojera Animal/diagnóstico , Celulitis (Flemón)/complicaciones , Celulitis (Flemón)/veterinaria , Enfermedades de los Bovinos/epidemiología , Enfermedades del Pie/epidemiología , Enfermedades del Pie/veterinaria , Enfermedades del Pie/complicaciones , Dermatitis/veterinaria , Industria LecheraRESUMEN
Maintaining udder health is the primary indication for antimicrobial use (AMU) in dairy production, and modulating this application is a key factor in decreasing AMU. Defining the optimal AMU and the associated practical rules is challenging since AMU interacts with many parameters. To define the trade-offs between decreased AMU, labor and economic performance, the bioeconomic stochastic simulation model DairyHealthSim (DHS)© was applied to dairy cow mastitis management and coupled to a mean variance optimization model and marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) analysis. The scenarios included three antimicrobial (AM) treatment strategies at dry-off, five types of general barn hygiene practices, five milking practices focused on parlor hygiene levels and three milk withdrawal strategies. The first part of economic results showed similar economic performances for the blanked dry-off strategy and selective strategy but demonstrated the trade-off between AMU reduction and farmers' workload. The second part of the results demonstrated the optimal value of the animal level of exposure to AM (ALEA). The MACC analysis showed that reducing ALEA below 1.5 was associated with a EUR 10,000 loss per unit of ALEA on average for the farmer. The results call for more integrative farm decision processes and bioeconomic reasoning to prompt efficient public interventions.
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Background: The growing evidence of the contribution of antimicrobial use (AMU) in animal agriculture to the public health threat of antimicrobial resistance has highlighted to policymakers the importance of the need for prudent AMU in animal production. Livestock farming is an economic process, where farmers are using inputs such as antimicrobials to minimize their losses. Objectives: Using a large and unique dataset combining time-series data on economic performance and health records in conventional broiler production in France, we identify how improved healthcare management and disease prevention impact economic performance, AMU reduction and health outcomes. Methods: We analyse the main characteristics of the economic performance of farms measured by the profit per m2, by performing advanced regression models investigating the relative importance of medication and veterinary procedures. Results: In our study, 50% of the treatments (expressed as number of new treatments) are attributable to only 30% of all flocks. There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between AMU and economic performance. This finding implies that the marginal profit of antimicrobials is decreasing, meaning that using antimicrobials is only profitable up to a certain threshold. Results also show that the profit increases as the number of preventive treatments increase. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that policies encouraging farmers to work upstream from the occurrence of disease have the potential to perform better than regulations, as they would maintain a profitable activity while diminishing AMU. Encouraging adequate infection control practices by subsidizing or providing other incentives would benefit farmers and society.
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Among the most important recent changes in the veterinary profession is the increasing percentage of women. Understanding trends driving the veterinary labor market is important to enable leaders in the veterinary profession and policy makers to plot strategic actions that will improve the profession. The objective of this paper was to estimate the gender pay gap in the veterinary labor market. We analyzed data from an anonymous online survey conducted in France in 2021 by the veterinary practitioner union. We assessed the gender gap pay using two regression approaches, ordinary least squares method and Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, while controlling for all other variables (ceteris paribus). We provided evidence that male veterinarians earned wages approximately 9.3% higher (controlling for all other variables). This difference represented the "unexplained variance" that may be due to gender discrimination or unobserved characteristics.
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The decrease in the supply of veterinary healthcare in France adversely affects health of food-producing animals. In a One Health perspective, the health of people, animals and their shared environment are interconnected, and adequate supply of veterinary healthcare is required to ensure public health. Prevention of outbreaks and zoonotic diseases that may impact public health mobilizes a set of public policies, including strengthening veterinary workforce. These policies should be informed by quantification of animal health care accessibility, yet this has not been well characterized. The objective was to quantify the accessibility to veterinary healthcare for cattle, swine, and poultry sectors in France. A Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (2SFCA) approach was used to measure the level of accessibility to veterinary clinics. In the cattle sector, the 2SFCA score indicated relatively high accessibility in the north and south of France, but insufficient accessibility elsewhere. In the swine sector, there was high accessibility in the north east and in north of France, medium accessibility in the south west, and insufficient accessibility elsewhere. Finally, in the poultry sector, all regions had insufficient accessibility. Sensitivity analysis examining the effects of a change in spatial accessibility according to various travel time showed that the optimal threshold to compute 2SFCA score in cattle, swine and poultry sectors were respectively, 45, 60 and 60 min. According to a definition of "underserved area" derived from an official decree and the optimal thresholds to compute 2SFCA, the cattle, swine and poultry sector have on average 75.3, 89.9 and 98.3% underserved area, respectively. We provided evidence that the supply of animal health care was not sufficient and we proposed recommendations on how to assess animal health care accessibility, enabling modelling and visualization of the effects of potential public policies aimed at reducing veterinary shortages.
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Accesibilidad a los Servicios de Salud , Viaje , Animales , Áreas de Influencia de Salud , Bovinos , Francia , Instituciones de Salud , Humanos , PorcinosRESUMEN
Calves are born hypogammaglobulinemic; thus, the newborn calf's immune defense relies on the ingestion and absorption of colostrum, which provides energy, immunoglobulins, immune cells, and cytokines to the newborn calf. A heat treatment applied to colostrum for 60 min at 60°C has been found to be effective at reducing the total bacterial count while preserving the colostrum IgG levels. The objective of this work was to perform a meta-analysis on the association between the characteristics of heat-treated colostrum and the concentration of colostrum IgG, serum IgG concentration, and serum total protein (STP). A meta-analysis was carried out based on existing peer-reviewed literature. Publications comparing colostrum IgG, serum IgG, and STP for heat-treated or raw frozen colostrum were included. The different heating temperatures applied to the colostrum were divided into 2 subgroups: high temperature (HT; >60°C) and low temperature (LT; ≤60°C). Twelve studies, including 21 trials, met the inclusion criteria for colostrum IgG concentration. The results indicated decreases in colostrum IgG by 20.6 g/L [95% confidence interval (CI) = 11.8-29.4] for HT and 5.38 g/L (95% CI = 2.9-7.8) for LT when colostrum was heat-treated compared with raw or frozen colostrum. Heterogeneity was high to moderate (I2 = 82% for HT and 65% for LT). The heat treatment of colostrum was also associated with a nonsignificant decrease in serum IgG by 3.40 g/L for HT (95% CI = 7.54-0.74) but a significant increase in serum IgG by 2.65 g/L for LT (95% CI = 1.51-3.79). The regression model indicated that heterogeneity was not explained by any moderators. The heat treatment of colostrum was also associated with a significant increase in STP by 0.21 g/dL for LT (95% CI = 0.07-0.35). In conclusion, the present work demonstrated that the heat treatment of colostrum ≤60°C decreased colostrum IgG by 5.38 g/L for LT and increased serum IgG by 2.65 g/L and STP by 0.21 g/dL. When compared with the range of values observed in the field for serum IgG, the present results are of high interest for the cattle industry. Because immune colostrum benefits also include cytokines and immune cells, further work is required to evaluate the effect of colostrum heat treatment on these 2 immune components of colostrum.
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Calostro , Calor , Animales , Animales Recién Nacidos , Bovinos , Frío , Calostro/química , Femenino , Inmunoglobulina G , EmbarazoRESUMEN
To respond to the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threat, public health entities implement policies aiming to reduce antimicrobial use (AMU) in livestock systems, in which policy success and sustainability might be subject to the social acceptability of the novel regulatory environment. Therefore, consistent methods that gather and synthesize preferences of stakeholder groups are needed during the policy design. The objective of this study was to present a methodology for evaluating the acceptability of potential strategies to reduce AMU using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) using French dairy industry as a model. Preference-ranking organization methods for enrichment evaluations were applied to rank stakeholders' acceptance of four different potential AMU reduction strategies: 1. Baseline AMU regulations in France; 2. Total interdiction of AMU; 3. Interdiction of prophylaxis and metaphylaxis AMU; and 4. Subsidies to reduce AMU by 25%. A total of 15 stakeholders (consumers, n = 10; farmers, n = 2; public health representatives, n = 3) representing the French dairy sector and public health administration participated in the acceptance weighting of the strategies in relation with their impact on environmental, economic, social, and political criteria. We established a MCDA methodology and result-interpretation approach that can assist in prioritizing alternatives to cope with AMR in the French dairy industry or in other livestock systems. Our MCDA framework showed that consumers and public health representatives preferred alternatives that consider the restriction of AMU, whereas farmers preferred to maintain baseline policy.
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Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), a contagious viral disease affecting small ruminants, has been targeted by the global community for eradication within the next 10 years. However, eradication will require substantial money, human resources, coordination among actors, and individual commitments. The objective was to estimate the cost of PPR at a household level, thereby providing information on the potential economic benefits of PPR eradication and the incentives for small ruminant keepers to actively participate in the PPR Global Eradication Programme. This study focused on four sub-Saharan countries: Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali and Rwanda. Publicly available household level data assembled by FAO were used. A bioeconomic model was built to estimate impacts of PPR for a standardized theoretical area, where each household raised an average small ruminant herd or flock. Model outputs were used to estimate, at a household level, income loss due to a PPR outbreak. We constructed various income scenarios to account for the variability of small ruminant income as a proportion of total household annual income. Household income losses ranged from 2% to 40% of total annual income; percentages varied depending on the income scenario and on the gross annual economic impact of PPR on small ruminant production, which ranged from 20% to 80%, based on results of the bioeconomic model. As expected, the more small ruminant production contributed to household income the greater the impact. Estimates provided herein warn decision makers that, given the heterogeneous impact of PPR on household income, the willingness of small ruminant decision makers to participate in the PPR Global Eradication Programme may vary widely and tailored approaches should be devised and implemented.
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Enfermedades de las Cabras , Peste de los Pequeños Rumiantes , Virus de la Peste de los Pequeños Rumiantes , Animales , Etiopía , Agricultores , Enfermedades de las Cabras/epidemiología , Cabras , Humanos , Peste de los Pequeños Rumiantes/epidemiología , Peste de los Pequeños Rumiantes/prevención & control , RumiantesRESUMEN
The provision of healthcare by veterinarians consists of a blend of activities ensuring welfare for animals. It also contributes in the control of infectious diseases and food safety. In general practices, most of the activities generate incomes for veterinarians, notably acts (consultations, surgery, etc.) and sales (drugs, pet food, etc.). Increased size of veterinary practices and the arrival of corporate companies modify the veterinary landscape in many countries. In a context of rapid growth of the companion animal health market, the question of the profitability of veterinary activities is relevant. Indeed, beyond a certain threshold, veterinarians may be tempted to leave behind food-producing animals' acts and focus on companion animals' acts, which are generally recognized to be more profitable and more attractive for new generations of veterinarians. A survey was conducted in French veterinary mixed practices, and a regression analysis was used to quantify the relationships between the turnover and the characteristics of veterinary practices, the time to perform veterinary acts, and the characteristics of veterinarians. We found that the characteristics of veterinary practices are positively associated with the turnover and the price of acts, and that there was an association between the status of veterinarians (associate, collaborator, or employee) and the time required to perform companion animals' and food-producing animals' acts. The present study is the first study showing the association between the characteristics of veterinary practices and the turnover, by investigating the price of veterinary acts and the time required.