Progress 08/13/07 to 03/01/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: One large-scale calf rearing operation was identified during summer, 2006. Weekly farm visits were conducted to track preweaned calf health and antimicrobial use. Observations of this operation indicate that standardized disease definitions and effective therapeutic protocols were not in place. Application of "mass treatment" was performed with no objective information or analysis. Success of individual animal and mass applied treatments was poorly characterized due to lack of objective feedback. While incomplete (all mass treatments were not recorded), available records collected over 23 days document that 1925 antibiotic treatments were administered among the 520 animals. Due to use of long acting antimicrobials, these treatments produced 3425 antibiotic therapy-days, which was equivalent to antibiotic therapy for 29% of all resident animals each day. Inclusion of known mass treatments (obtained from animal caregivers at farm visits) increased antimicrobial therapy days to 5505, equivalent to 46% of resident animals receiving therapeutic antimicrobials each day. Although largely qualitative, these observations indicate that morbidity was high, and management decisions regarding antimicrobial use were disconnected from objective data. Another outbreak investigation was conducted on a custom heifer rearing operation with excellent treatment records. Analysis revealed that 326 calves (of 720 total, or 45%) were treated with antimicrobials, and received a mean of 7 treatments. Most (57.1%) treated calves received only 1 class of antimicrobial, though 42.9% were exposed to multiple antimicrobial classes. These data exemplify the alarming antimicrobial use rates in custom calf growers, and underscore the tremendous need to improve management to limit antimicrobial use. PARTICIPANTS: Thomas Wittum is a professor at OSU CVM in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. He served as the faculty mentor to William Walker, the graduate student on this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The U.S. dairy industry is undergoing significant consolidation and specialization. As a result, specialized operations focusing on rearing dairy replacements and dairy-beef calves have emerged and are becoming more commonplace. Demographic features, antibiotic use and biosecurity practices of the U.S. dairy industry have been characterized by the USDA and other researchers over a number of years. However, there is a dearth of similar literature describing calf ranches. We have recently completed a nationwide survey of calf ranches that has characterized the demographics, antibiotic use, biosecurity and biocontainment practices of these operations. First, calf ranches will be described in as much detail as is currently available. Second, a brief description of antibiotic use and biosecurity practices employed by the U.S. dairy industry will be put forth. Third, a thorough description of our methods and the results of calf ranches and their characteristics will be presented to participants. Finally, a comparison of characteristics common to calf ranches and U.S. dairies will be presented. From this work two manuscripts describing our findings are currently in preparation for submission to a peer reviewed journal.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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