TY - JOUR

T1 - Regional-Scale Analysis of Antimicrobial Usage in Smallholder Cattle Herds (Aosta Valley, Italy)

T2 - Why Surveillance Matters

AU - Scali, Federico

AU - Ganio, Sandra

AU - Roullet, Claudio

AU - Ruffier, Mauro

AU - Bergagna, Stefania

AU - Pagliasso, Giulia

AU - Romeo, Claudia

AU - Formenti, Nicoletta

AU - Maisano, Antonio Marco

AU - Santucci, Giovanni

AU - Tonni, Matteo

AU - Guadagno, Federica

AU - Mazza, Francesca

AU - Guarneri, Flavia

AU - Bontempi, Giorgio

AU - Candela, Loredana

AU - Alborali, Giovanni Loris

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Optimising antimicrobial usage (AMU) in livestock is pivotal to counteract the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. We analysed AMU in more than 1000 cattle herds over 11 years (2008–2018) in the Aosta Valley (Italy), a region where 80% of farms house less than 50 cattle. Dairy cows accounted for over 95% of AMU. AMU was estimated using the defined daily dose animal for Italy (DDDAit) per biomass for the whole herd and a treatment incidence 100 (TI100) for cows. Average annual herd-level AMU was low, with 3.6 DDDAit/biomass (range: 3.2–4.0) and 1.2 TI100 in cows (range: 1.1–1.3). Third and fourth generation cephalosporins, which are critical for human medicine, represented almost 10% of usage, and intramammary antimicrobials accounted for over 60%. We detected significant downward temporal trends in total AMU, as well as a positive relationship with herd size. The magnitude of such effects was small, leaving scant room for further reduction. However, the frequent use of critical antimicrobials and intramammary products should be addressed, following the principles of prudent AMU. Our findings highlight the importance of monitoring AMU even in low-production, smallholding contexts where a low usage is expected, to identify any deficiencies and implement interventions for further AMU optimisation.

AB - Optimising antimicrobial usage (AMU) in livestock is pivotal to counteract the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. We analysed AMU in more than 1000 cattle herds over 11 years (2008–2018) in the Aosta Valley (Italy), a region where 80% of farms house less than 50 cattle. Dairy cows accounted for over 95% of AMU. AMU was estimated using the defined daily dose animal for Italy (DDDAit) per biomass for the whole herd and a treatment incidence 100 (TI100) for cows. Average annual herd-level AMU was low, with 3.6 DDDAit/biomass (range: 3.2–4.0) and 1.2 TI100 in cows (range: 1.1–1.3). Third and fourth generation cephalosporins, which are critical for human medicine, represented almost 10% of usage, and intramammary antimicrobials accounted for over 60%. We detected significant downward temporal trends in total AMU, as well as a positive relationship with herd size. The magnitude of such effects was small, leaving scant room for further reduction. However, the frequent use of critical antimicrobials and intramammary products should be addressed, following the principles of prudent AMU. Our findings highlight the importance of monitoring AMU even in low-production, smallholding contexts where a low usage is expected, to identify any deficiencies and implement interventions for further AMU optimisation.

KW - antimicrobial stewardship

KW - critical antimicrobials

KW - dairy cows

KW - dual-purpose breed

KW - mountain grazing

U2 - 10.3390/antibiotics13030204

DO - 10.3390/antibiotics13030204

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38534639

AN - SCOPUS:85188688990

VL - 13

JO - Antibiotics

JF - Antibiotics

SN - 2079-6382

IS - 3

M1 - 204

ER -