Effect of welfare standards and biosecurity practices on antimicrobial use in beef cattle.
Sci Rep
; 10(1): 20939, 2020 12 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33262402
ABSTRACT
Antimicrobial use (AMU) in livestock species and the associated antimicrobial resistance are a global concern, thus strategies for their reduction and a more judicious use are needed. Previous research has revealed a link between improved animal welfare, biosecurity and AMU reduction in pig and dairy sectors, however, little is known about the beef sector. This study aimed to investigate the impact of welfare standards and biosecurity on AMU in beef cattle. Data on performance traits and AMU were collected over a 3.5 year time from 27 specialised beef farms and a treatment incidence was calculated using the defined daily dose for animals. An on-farm assessment was carried out by assigning a score from 0 (very poor) to 100% (very good) to 3 sections welfare, biosecurity and emergency management. The highest average score was obtained for the welfare section (76%) followed by emergency management (39%) and biosecurity (24%). This suggests that major focus on strategies for the implementation of biosecurity measures and emergency management is needed, due to the low scores reported. A statistically significant lower AMU was observed with improved level of welfare. These results may be helpful for farm benchmarking and highlight the importance of improved animal welfare for an efficient antimicrobial stewardship.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Animal Welfare
/
Red Meat
Type of study:
Guideline
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Sci Rep
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italy