Antimicrobial Metaphylaxis and its Impact on Health, Performance, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Contextual Antimicrobial Use in High-Risk Beef Stocker Calves

The objective of this blinded, cluster-randomized, complete block trial was to evaluate the impact of metaphylaxis on health, performance, antimicrobial resistance, and contextual antimicrobial use (AMU) in high-risk beef stocker calves. Calves (n = 155) were randomly assigned to receive either sali...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of animal science Vol. 102
Main Authors: Credille, Brent, Berghaus, Roy D, Jane Miller, Ella, Credille, Allison, Schrag, Nora F D, Naikare, Hemant
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 03-01-2024
Subjects:
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The objective of this blinded, cluster-randomized, complete block trial was to evaluate the impact of metaphylaxis on health, performance, antimicrobial resistance, and contextual antimicrobial use (AMU) in high-risk beef stocker calves. Calves (n = 155) were randomly assigned to receive either saline or tulathromycin at the time of arrival processing. Deep nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from each calf at arrival and 14 d later. Calves were monitored for bovine respiratory disease (BRD) for 42 d. Body weights were obtained at arrival, days 14, 28, and 42. Contextual antimicrobial use (AMU) was calculated using dose and mass-based metrics. Calves given tulathromycin had a greater average daily gain (0.96 ± 0.07 kg vs. 0.82 ± 0.07 kg; P = 0.034) and lower prevalence of BRD than controls (17% vs. 40%; P = 0.008). Proportions of calves with BRD pathogens identified at arrival were similar between treatment groups [17%; P = 0.94]. Proportions of calves with BRD pathogens identified at day 14 were lower for calves receiving tulathromycin compared to controls (15% vs. 60%, P < 0.001). Overall, 81% of Pastuerella multocida isolates and 47% of Mannheimia haemolytica isolates were pansusceptible. When measured as regimens per head in, AMU in calves receiving tulathromycin was higher than calves receiving saline (P = 0.01). Under the conditions of this study, metaphylaxis had positive impacts on the health and performance of high-risk beef stocker calves, did not contribute to the selection of resistant bacterial isolates in the nasopharynx of treated cattle, and increased AMU.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ObjectType-Undefined-3
ISSN:0021-8812
1525-3163
DOI:10.1093/jas/skad417