[Homemade herbal remedies - tradition with practical relevance]. / Pflanzliche bäuerliche Hausmittel ­ Tradition mit Praxisrelevanz.

OBJECTIVE: The preparation of homemade herbal remedies has always been practiced by animal keepers and is still employed in farm animals today. In order to document this practice, an ethnoveterinary study was conducted in Bavaria in 2018-2021. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The farmers were interviewed on site and the reported recipes were documented in detail and, where possible, also carried out during the interviews. The plant parts used were weighed using a laboratory balance in order to be able to calculate a daily dose per animal or the concentration in the end product for as many of these traditional use reports (UR) as possible. RESULTS: A total of 716 recipes for 884 UR were named in the 77 interviews by the participating farmers. Two thirds (69%) of the formulations mentioned consisted of one or more medicinal plants and 31% dealt with other natural home remedies (honey, vinegar, etc.). Overall, the farmers surveyed preferred the use of single plants in their formulations. Most UR were for cattle (77% of all reports). These traditional remedies are most often used in Bavarian stables for the treatment and prophylaxis of gastrointestinal diseases and metabolic disorders. Furthermore, there was a high correspondence of the medicinal plants used with described UR from two historical reference books. The study participants used their homemade herbal remedies with a high degree of satisfaction and thereby act within the scope of their own responsibility as farmers. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This traditional knowledge of herbal preparations containing active ingredients, which has been passed on for generations, may also be a good starting point for a phytotherapeutic supplement in the treatment of farm animals in veterinary practice. Pharmaceutical and feed law framework conditions must be adhered to.

What can we learn from past and recent Bavarian knowledge for the future development of European veterinary herbal medicine? An ethnoveterinary study.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: While the interest in finding medical solutions for the worldwide antibiotics crisis is rising, the legal possibility of simplified authorization of herbal veterinary medicinal products is dwindling. An important basis for both the preservation and development of knowledge in veterinary herbal medicine are pharmacological and clinical studies on the performance of herbal remedies, based on historical written sources on the treatment of farm animals with medicinal plants, as well as current ethnoveterinary research. Nevertheless, there is only limited systematic ethnoveterinary research in Europe, with the exceptions of the Mediterranean region, Switzerland and Austria. We conducted a survey on the ethnoveterinary knowledge of farmers in Bavaria, and analyzed two regional historical textbooks. AIM OF THE STUDY: We documented the local veterinary knowledge about livestock in Bavaria based upon local historical textbooks and upon ethnoveterinary interviews to discover opportunities for the future development of European veterinary herbal medicine. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In 2018/2019 we conducted 77 semi-structured interviews with 101 farmers from different types of farms. Detailed information about homemade herbal remedies (plant species, plant part, manufacturing process, source of knowledge) and the corresponding use reports (target animal species, category of use, route of administration, dosage, source of knowledge, frequency of use, last time of use and farmers' satisfaction) were collected. To compare our data with the literature, the use reports of two local historical textbooks were analyzed and compared with the data from the interviews. RESULTS: 716 homemade remedy reports (HRs) for altogether 884 use reports (URs) were documented in this study. We picked the 363 HRs that consisted of a single plant species with or without other natural products (HSHRs) for a deeper analysis. These HSHRs were prepared from 108 plant species that belonged to 57 botanical families. The most URs were documented for the families of: Asteraceae, Linaceae and Urticaceae. Calendula officinalis L. (Asteraceae), Linum usitatissimum L. (Linaceae) and Urtica dioica L. (Urticaceae) were the most often documented single species. A total of 448 URs were gathered for the 363 HSHRs. The largest number of URs was for treatments of gastrointestinal disorders and metabolic dysfunctions, followed by skin alterations and sores. For nearly half of the URs the source of knowledge was family and friends. For 80 URs the source of knowledge was different from that of the corresponding HSHRs. For 68% of the URs farmers mentioned at least one use during the last 5 years. Half of the plant species that were mentioned in the historical literature were also mentioned in URs by the interviewees. CONCLUSION: In Bavaria, medicinal plants are actively used by farmers to treat their livestock with a high level of satisfaction. The knowledge is not passed on from generation to generation in a purely static way, but is dynamically developed by the users in almost one fifth of the URs. Ethnoveterinary research combined with data from regional historical textbooks may facilitate pharmacological and clinical studies in veterinary medicine, and the discussion about a simplified registration for traditional herbal veterinary medicinal products.

A multicomponent herbal feed additive improves somatic cell counts in dairy cows - a two stage, multicentre, placebo-controlled long-term on-farm trial.

In contrast to natural and historical diets of wild and domesticated ruminants, the diversity of plant species is limited in diets of modern dairy cows. Are "production diseases" linked to this? We conducted a trial to test the effects of a multicomponent herbal feed additive (HFA) on health, performance and fertility traits. A dose-finding study (DF) with 62 cows on 11 commercial farms compared a low (50 g) and a high (100 g) dose of HFA (HFA-50, HFA-100) with a placebo (PL). In a subsequent field trial (FT) with 280 cows on 30 commercial farms, HFA-100 was compared to PL. Cows were randomly assigned to HFA and PL groups and received HFA or PL individually daily from 14 days pre- to 300 days post-calving. Data were analysed with mixed effects models. No differences between HFA and PL were found regarding performance, body condition score and overall culling rates. A tendency towards lower milk urea for HFA-100 compared to PL (p = .06) was found in DF. HFA significantly reduced elevated milk acetone observations (≥10 mg/L) in the first 10 lactation weeks (HFA-100: 4%; HFA-50: 4%; PL: 12%) in DF. HFA-50 significantly reduced lameness incidence (HFA-100: 11%; HFA-50: 2%; PL: 14%) in DF. Calving intervals were 15 days shorter in HFA compared to PL in both trials, which could be confirmed by tendency (p = .07) in FT. In both trials, the proportion of test days with elevated somatic cell score (≥3.0) was significantly lower in HFA compared to PL (DF: HFA-100: 40%, HFA-50: 45% and PL: 55%; FT: HFA-100: 38% and PL: 55%) which is also reflected by tendency (p = .08) in lower culling rates due to udder diseases in FT. HFA showed no negative impact on any of the measured parameters. The effects of HFA indicate a potential of phytochemically rich and diverse feed additives for dairy cows' nutrition and physiology.

Ethnoveterinary knowledge of farmers in bilingual regions of Switzerland - is there potential to extend veterinary options to reduce antimicrobial use?

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: In the pre-antibiotic era, a broad spectrum of medicinal plants was used to treat livestock. This knowledge was neglected in European veterinary medicine for decades but kept alive by farmers. Emergence of multidrug resistant bacterial strains requires a severely restricted use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine. We conducted a survey on the ethnoveterinary knowledge of farmers in the bilingual (French and German speaking) Western region of Switzerland, namely the cantons of Fribourg, Neuchâtel and Jura, and in the French speaking part of the canton of Bern. AIM OF THE STUDY: To find out whether differences exist in plants used by farmers in French speaking and bilingual regions of Switzerland as compared to our earlier studies conducted in Switzerland. Additional focus was on plants that are used in diseases which commonly are treated with antimicrobials, on plants used in skin afflictions, and on plants used in animal species such as horses, for which the range of veterinary medicinal products is limited. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted in 2015 semistructured interviews with 62 dialog partners, mainly cattle keeping farmers but also 18 horse keeping farmers. Of these, 41 were native French (FNS) and 21 native German speakers (GNS). Detailed information about homemade herbal remedies (plant species, plant part, manufacturing process) and the corresponding use reports (target animal species, category of use, route of administration, dosage, source of knowledge, frequency of use, last time of use and farmers satisfaction) were collected. RESULTS: A total of 345 homemade remedies were reported, of which 240 contained only one plant species (Homemade Single Species Herbal Remedy Reports; HSHR). A total of 289 use reports (UR) were mentioned for the 240 HSHR, and they comprised 77 plant species belonging to 41 botanical families. Of these, 35 plant species were solely reported from FNS, 20 from GNS, and 22 from both. Taking into account earlier ethnoveterinary studies conducted in Switzerland only 10 (FNS) and 6 (GNS) plant species connected with 7% of FNS and GNS UR respectively were "unique" to the respective language group. The majority of the UR (219) was for treatment of cattle, while 38 UR were intended to treat horses. The most UR were for treatment of gastrointestinal and skin diseases. The most frequently mentioned plants were Linum usitatissimum L., Coffea L., Matricaria chamomilla L., Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze, and Quercus robur L. for gastrointestinal diseases, and Calendula officinalis L., Hypericum perforatum L. and Sanicula europaea L. for skin afflictions. CONCLUSION: No clear differences were found between the medicinal plants used by French native speakers and German native speakers. Several of the reported plants seem to be justified to widen the spectrum of veterinary therapeutic options in gastrointestinal and dermatological disorders in cattle and horses, and to reduce, at least to a certain degree, the need for antibiotic treatments. Our findings may help to strengthen the role of medicinal plants in veterinary research and practice, and to consider them as a further measure in official strategies for lowering the use of antibiotics.

[Einfluss eines komplementärmedizinischen telefonischen Beratungssystems auf den Antibiotikaeinsatz bei Nutztieren in der Schweiz]. / Influence of a Complementary and Alternative Medical Advisory Program by Telephone on the Use of Antibiotics in Livestock in Switzerland.

Hintergrund: Der Antibiotikaeinsatz bei Nutztieren fördert die Entwicklung antibiotikaresistenter Bakterien. Die Komplementärmedizin könnte einen Beitrag zur Reduktion von Antibiotika leisten, wird bisher jedoch nicht flächendeckend angeboten. Das Beratungsprogramm "Kometian" unter-stützt teilnehmende Landwirte darin, ihre Tiere komplementärmedizinisch zu behandeln. Methoden und Resultate: 128 von 223 teilnehmenden Betrieben nutzten in den ersten 3 Projektjahren die telefonische Beratung von Kometian. Die Mehrheit der Landwirte hielt Milchkühe. Frühestens 1 Woche nach der Kometianberatung wurde eine telefonische Nachfrage beim Tierbesitzer hinsichtlich des Gesundheitszustandes des Tieres durchgeführt. Es konnten so 661 Beratungsfälle recherchiert werden. In 486 Fällen erfolgte keine weitere schulmedizinische Behandlung, in 373 Fällen gab der Landwirt einen Behandlungserfolg an. Von 188 angefragten und seit mindestens einem Jahr an Kometian teilnehmenden Betrieben stellten 46 ihre Behandlungsjournale zur Verfügung. Die betriebliche antibiotische Behandlungsinzidenz sank signifikant (p < 0,001) von 27 vor Beitritt auf 18 Behandlungen pro 100 Tiere im ersten Jahr. Schlussfolgerung: Es scheint, dass Kometian einen Beitrag dazu leisten konnte, den Antibiotikaeinsatz auf Betriebsebene zu reduzieren. BACKGROUND: A regular use of antibiotics in farm animals is assumed to induce antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) may contribute to a reduction of antibiotic use but it is not extensively offered by Swiss veterinarians. The advisory program "Kometian" supports farmers in treating their animals with CAM. METHODS AND RESULTS: 128 out of 223 participating farmers used the telephone consultations of Kometian in the first 3 years of the project. The majority of the farmers kept dairy cattle. No sooner than 1 week after such a consultation, the famer was questioned by phone about the health progress of the animal. Thus, the development of health could be verified in 661 cases (of 714). 486 cases were not treated further by conventional medicine; in 373 cases the farmer reported a positive treatment effect. Of 188 examined farms, which had participated in the advisory program for at least 1 year, 46 made their treatment records available. The incidence of antibiotic treatment decreased significantly (p < 0.001) from 27 before entering the program to 18 treatments per 100 animals in the first year. CONCLUSION: It seems that the advisory program Kometian could contribute to reduce the use of antibiotics on the farm level.

Ethnoveterinary contemporary knowledge of farmers in pre-alpine and alpine regions of the Swiss cantons of Bern and Lucerne compared to ancient and recent literature - Is there a tradition?

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The term "traditional" is well established in European (human) medicine and even appears in recent European regulations on herbal medicinal products connected to a simplified registration. In contrast, a scientific discussion of a Traditional European Veterinary Herbal Medicine is still lacking in spite of a rising interest, in herbal medicine for animals in particular of veterinarians. There is only limited systematic ethnoveterinary research in Europe, with exception of the Mediterranean region, Switzerland and Austria. We conducted a survey on the ethnoveterinary knowledge of farmers in the pre-alpine and alpine regions of the Swiss cantons of Bern and Lucerne. We compared the findings with earlier studies conducted in Switzerland and with recent and past human and veterinary medicinal literature. AIM OF THE STUDY: We wanted to know to what extent (dependent to different definition of the term "traditional") the ethnoveterinary knowledge of Swiss farmers could be considered as "traditional" in a European veterinary medicinal context. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Semistructured interviews with 44 dialog partners, mainly smallholder cattle farmers, were conducted in 2014. Detailed information about homemade herbal remedies (plant species, plant part, manufacturing process) and the corresponding use reports (target animal species, category of use, route of administration, dosage, source of knowledge, frequency of use, last time of use and farmers satisfaction) were collected. To compare our data with literature, one German book of veterinary pharmacology published in 1900, one typescript of Swiss lectures in veterinary pharmacology from 1944, four books of veterinary herbal medicine published between 1984 and 2016, and one recent publication comparing current Swiss (human) ethnomedicinal plant knowledge with modern and past literature were analyzed. RESULTS: Information on a total of 315 homemade remedies containing one single plant species (homemade single species herbal remedy reports, HSHR) was collected from participating farmers. These HSHR were prepared from 83 plant species belonging to 46 botanical families. Plants of the families Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Rosaceae were most frequently used. Matricaria recutita L., Calendula officinalis L., Quercus robur L., Thymus vulgaris L. and Symphytum officinale L. were the most frequently documented species. A total of 404 use reports (UR) were gathered for the 315 HSHR. The largest number of UR was for treatments of gastrointestinal disorders and metabolic dysfunctions, followed by skin alterations and sores. For more than half of the UR the source of knowledge was family, ancestors and friends, and for approximately one quarter the information was from courses and other educational events. For nearly 90% of the UR farmers mentioned at least one use during the last 10 years, and in more than 50% of the UR the last use was within the past year. Compared with recent and past literature and depending on different definitions of the term "traditional" as used for human medicine, between 43% and 84% of all 83 and between 57% and 100% of the most often mentioned 21 plant species show a "traditional" European veterinary use. CONCLUSION: For the treatment of their animals farmers in the pre-alpine and alpine regions of the Swiss cantons of Bern and Lucerne mostly used plants which have a track record as medicinal herbs in Europe over several centuries. Almost half of the plant species had specific veterinary uses for about 120 years and even more for at least 30 years. The majority of the plant species thus fulfill the criteria of "traditional" according to several definitions and even more up to a certain degree the criteria of "traditional use" as defined in European regulations for human medicinal products. Ethnoveterinary research combined with data from historical sources may serve as a sound foundation for the development and definition of a Traditional European Veterinary Herbal Medicine maybe even with regard to the recent discussion about a simplified registration for Traditional Herbal Veterinary Medicinal Products.

Swiss ethnoveterinary knowledge on medicinal plants - a within-country comparison of Italian speaking regions with north-western German speaking regions.

BACKGROUND: Ethnoveterinary knowledge in Europe may play an important role as a basis for sustainable treatment options for livestock. Aims of our study were (a) to compare the ethnoveterinary practices of two culturally and sociodemographically different regions of Switzerland, (b) to compare results with earlier ethnoveterinary studies conducted in Switzerland and in adjacent Italian regions and, (c) to evaluate possible reasons for regional differences in European ethnoveterinary medicine. METHODS: 25 interviews were conducted in 2014 in all Italian speaking regions (ItR) of Switzerland, and 31 interviews were held in five north-western German speaking Cantons (GeC). Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect detailed information regarding plant species, mode of preparation, dosage, route of administration, category of use, origin of knowledge, frequency of use, and satisfaction with outcomes of the treatments. RESULTS: A total of 162 homemade remedies in ItR and 219 in GeC were reported, out of which 125 and 145, respectively, were reported to contain only one plant species (homemade single species herbal remedy report, HSHR). 44 ItR and 43 GeC plant species were reported to treat livestock, of which only a half were used in both regions. For each HSHR, we classified the treatment intention of all use reports (UR), leading to a total of 205 and 219 UR in ItR and GeC respectively. While cattle were the most often treated livestock species in both study regions, in ItR 40% of UR were administered to small ruminants. Main indications in both regions were gastrointestinal diseases and skin afflictions, but in ItR a high number of URs were reported as antiparasitics. URs were mainly handed down from the past generation, but in GeC the source of knowledge for 20% of URs were from courses. Regarding the used plant species, ItR showed a higher concordance with Swiss than Italian studies, but with some differences to all regions. A total of 22 (14 ItR; 8 GeC) plant species in this study have not been reported before in ethnoveterinary studies of Swiss and Italian alpine regions. CONCLUSIONS: ItR and GeC, show differences and similarities with respect to their own ethnoveterinary practices and earlier Swiss and Italian ethnoveterinary studies. Linguistic, geographical, as well as social and farm-structural conditions influence the regional ethnoveterinary knowledge. However, political borders seem to be more important than language or geographical barriers.

Feeding mastitis milk to organic dairy calves: effect on health and performance during suckling and on udder health at first calving.

BACKGROUND: Infection pathways of S. aureus udder infections in heifers are still not well understood. One hypothesis is that calves become infected with S. aureus via feeding mastitis milk. Especially on small-scale farms, pasteurisers are not economic. The purpose of this randomised comparative study was to investigate the influence of feeding milk containing S. aureus genotype B (SAGTB) on the health and development of calves and udder health of the respective heifers. Additionally, a method reducing the bacterial load to obtain safer feeding milk was tested. Thirty-four calves were fed mastitis milk from cows with subclinical SAGTB mastitis. One group was fed untreated milk (UMG). For the other group, milk was thermised at 61°C for one minute (heat treated milk group = HMG). After weaning, calves were followed up until first calving. A milk sample of these heifers was taken at first milking to compare udder health of both groups. RESULTS: Thermisation of milk led to an effective reduction of S. aureus in the feeding milk. 78% of the analysed pools were free of S. aureus, a reduction of at least one log was obtained in the other pools. CONCLUSIONS: Under the conditions of this study, no effects of feeding milk containing SAGTB on udder health after first calving were observed. But a power analysis indicated that the sample size in the current setup is insufficient to allow for assessment on mastitis risk after SAGTB exposition, as a minimal number of 4 calves infected (vs. 0 in the HMG) would have shown significant effects. High bacterial load, however, was associated with an increased incidence rate of diarrhoea. Thus, thermisation as a minimal preventive measure before feeding mastitis milk to calves might be beneficial for maintaining calf health.

Short communication: Staphylococcus aureus isolated from colostrum of dairy heifers represent a closely related group exhibiting highly homogeneous genomic and antimicrobial resistance features.

In heifers, intramammary infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus affect milk production and udder health in the first and subsequent lactations, and can lead to premature culling. Not much is known about Staph. aureus isolated from heifers and it is also unclear whether or not these strains are readily transmitted between heifers and lactating herd mates. In this study, we compared phenotypic characteristics, spa types, and DNA microarray virulence and resistance gene profiles of Staph. aureus isolates obtained from colostrum samples of dairy heifers with isolates obtained from lactating cows. Our objective was to (1) characterize Staph. aureus strains associated with mastitis in heifers and (2) determine relatedness of Staph. aureus strains from heifers and lactating cows to provide data on transmission. We analyzed colostrum samples of 501 heifers and milk samples of 68 lactating cows within the same herd, isolating 48 and 9 Staph. aureus isolates, respectively. Staphylococcus aureus strains from heifers, lactating herd mates, and an unrelated collection of 78 strains from bovine mastitis milk of mature cows were compared. With 1 exception each, characterization of all strains from heifers and lactating cows in the same herd yielded highly similar phenotypic and genotypic results. The strains were Staphaurex latex agglutination test negative (Oxoid AG, Basel, Switzerland) and belonged to agr type II, CC705, and spa types tbl 2645 and t12926. They were susceptible to all antimicrobial agents tested. In contrast, the strains from mature cows in other herds were spread across different clonal complexes, spa types, and SplitsTree clusters (http://www.splitstree.org/), thus displaying a far higher degree of heterogeneity. We conclude that strains isolated from colostrum of heifers and mastitis milk of lactating cows in the same herd feature highly similar phenotypic and genomic characteristics, suggesting persistence of the organism during the first and potentially subsequent lactations or transmission between heifers and mature herd mates.

Analysis of the antibody response to an immunodominant epitope of the envelope glycoprotein of a lentivirus and its diagnostic potential.

The envelope glycoprotein of small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV) is a major target of the humoral immune response and contains several linear B-cell epitopes. We amplified and sequenced the genomic segment encoding the SU5 antigenic site of the envelope glycoprotein of several SRLV field isolates. With synthetic peptides based on the deduced amino acid sequences of SU5 in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we have (i) proved the immunodominance of this region regardless of its high variability, (ii) defined the epitopes encompassed by SU5, (iii) illustrated the rapid and peculiar kinetics of seroconversion to this antigenic site, and (iv) shown the rapid and strong maturation of the avidity of the anti-SU5 antibody. Finally, we demonstrated the modular diagnostic potential of SU5 peptides. Under Swiss field conditions, the SU5 ELISA was shown to detect the majority of infected animals and, when applied in a molecular epidemiological context, to permit rapid phylogenetic classification of the infecting virus.