Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat Farmers

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics in agriculture has been implicated in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, a significant and growing public health threat. In a previous study, we found that Missouri goats had a higher percentage of antibiotic residues at slau...

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Autores principales: K. Landfried, Lauren, K. Barnidge, Ellen, Pithua, Patrick, D. Lewis, Roger, A. Jacoby, Jonathan, C. King, Christopher, R. Baskin, Carole
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
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Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6262384/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30404160
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani8110198
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author K. Landfried, Lauren
K. Barnidge, Ellen
Pithua, Patrick
D. Lewis, Roger
A. Jacoby, Jonathan
C. King, Christopher
R. Baskin, Carole
author_facet K. Landfried, Lauren
K. Barnidge, Ellen
Pithua, Patrick
D. Lewis, Roger
A. Jacoby, Jonathan
C. King, Christopher
R. Baskin, Carole
author_sort K. Landfried, Lauren
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics in agriculture has been implicated in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, a significant and growing public health threat. In a previous study, we found that Missouri goats had a higher percentage of antibiotic residues at slaughter than predicted based on the national average, so we undertook this study to understand contributing factors. As farmers are typically the ones administering antibiotics to their animals, we set out to investigate Missouri goat farmers’ knowledge and attitudes regarding antibiotics, veterinarians, and antibiotic resistance using qualitative research interview methods. Our aims were to determine circumstances leading to farmers’ administration of antibiotics, farmers’ decision process resulting in the use of antibiotics, the role of veterinarians, and farmers’ perceptions about antibiotic resistance. The following themes emerged: how farmers detect illnesses in individual goats, herd health management, where farmers obtain antibiotics, and farmers’ thoughts about antibiotic resistance. Our findings highlighted the need for more emphasis on goat health management during veterinary education and the need for improved working relationships between veterinarians and farmers to promote appropriate antibiotic use and prevent the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. ABSTRACT: Use of low dose, prophylactic antibiotics contributes to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In one study, goat meat in Missouri was found to have a higher percentage of antibiotic residues at slaughter than the national average, so we attempted to identify factors related to goat production that may contribute to this issue. Using the knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB) model, we interviewed 11 Missouri goat farmers about factors affecting antibiotic use. Most of the farmers did not have specific protocols for managing illnesses and only relied on veterinarians for major health issues. Many felt veterinarians lacked knowledge about goat medicine so instead relied on other farmers’ or their own experiences for treatment modalities. While most agreed that antibiotic resistance was a concern, only 4 of the 11 indicated that they only used antibiotics when prescribed by the veterinarian. Veterinarians should be relied on and valued for their medical expertise, but they are not always being utilized in this manner. Therefore, veterinary education should emphasize goat health management to a greater extent than it currently does, and soft skills to build collaborative relationships with farmers should be taught to promote preventative health measures and more judicious use of antibiotics.
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spelling pubmed-62623842018-11-29 Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat Farmers K. Landfried, Lauren K. Barnidge, Ellen Pithua, Patrick D. Lewis, Roger A. Jacoby, Jonathan C. King, Christopher R. Baskin, Carole Animals (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: Overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics in agriculture has been implicated in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, a significant and growing public health threat. In a previous study, we found that Missouri goats had a higher percentage of antibiotic residues at slaughter than predicted based on the national average, so we undertook this study to understand contributing factors. As farmers are typically the ones administering antibiotics to their animals, we set out to investigate Missouri goat farmers’ knowledge and attitudes regarding antibiotics, veterinarians, and antibiotic resistance using qualitative research interview methods. Our aims were to determine circumstances leading to farmers’ administration of antibiotics, farmers’ decision process resulting in the use of antibiotics, the role of veterinarians, and farmers’ perceptions about antibiotic resistance. The following themes emerged: how farmers detect illnesses in individual goats, herd health management, where farmers obtain antibiotics, and farmers’ thoughts about antibiotic resistance. Our findings highlighted the need for more emphasis on goat health management during veterinary education and the need for improved working relationships between veterinarians and farmers to promote appropriate antibiotic use and prevent the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. ABSTRACT: Use of low dose, prophylactic antibiotics contributes to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In one study, goat meat in Missouri was found to have a higher percentage of antibiotic residues at slaughter than the national average, so we attempted to identify factors related to goat production that may contribute to this issue. Using the knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB) model, we interviewed 11 Missouri goat farmers about factors affecting antibiotic use. Most of the farmers did not have specific protocols for managing illnesses and only relied on veterinarians for major health issues. Many felt veterinarians lacked knowledge about goat medicine so instead relied on other farmers’ or their own experiences for treatment modalities. While most agreed that antibiotic resistance was a concern, only 4 of the 11 indicated that they only used antibiotics when prescribed by the veterinarian. Veterinarians should be relied on and valued for their medical expertise, but they are not always being utilized in this manner. Therefore, veterinary education should emphasize goat health management to a greater extent than it currently does, and soft skills to build collaborative relationships with farmers should be taught to promote preventative health measures and more judicious use of antibiotics. MDPI 2018-11-06 /pmc/articles/PMC6262384/ /pubmed/30404160 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani8110198 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
K. Landfried, Lauren
K. Barnidge, Ellen
Pithua, Patrick
D. Lewis, Roger
A. Jacoby, Jonathan
C. King, Christopher
R. Baskin, Carole
Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat Farmers
title Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat Farmers
title_full Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat Farmers
title_fullStr Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat Farmers
title_full_unstemmed Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat Farmers
title_short Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat Farmers
title_sort antibiotic use on goat farms: an investigation of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of missouri goat farmers
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6262384/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30404160
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani8110198
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