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The growing threat of antibiotic (or antimicrobial) resistance in the human population has brought a new focus onto how much antibiotics are used on local farms.
In NI, the Department of Health is due to launch a five-year action plan (2019 to 2023) to tackle the problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which will cover a range of disciplines including human healthcare, veterinary medicine and animal husbandry.
Out of 91 actions in the draft plan seen by the Irish Farmers Journal, 20 are to be taken forward by DAERA. They include raising awareness of the issue among farmers and vets, establishing how much antibiotics are currently administered to animals, and putting in place sector-specific targets to cut usage.
On many farms, reducing antibiotic use comes down to good management, whether it is maintaining a clean environment, effective and targeted use of vaccines or following animal health plans.
However, according to Fermanagh-man, Adam Robinson, there is potentially also a role for natural based products in helping to keep disease out of the herd.
He has recently set up the UK arm of AHV International, a rapidly growing Dutch company founded by vet, Dr Gertjan Streefland in 2014. AHV UK is one of a number of businesses now operating out of the old Augher Creamery site in Co Tyrone.
AHV offers a range of products designed to improve both cow and calf health. It uses oils and plant extracts, and relies on the natural science of quorum sensing.
In simple terms, quorum sensing explains how bacteria communicate and work together. The products on offer from AHV work to disrupt the ability of bacteria to communicate and cause disease. “Basically we are deactivating the pathogenic bacteria to allow the immune system of the animal to help it fight an infection” explained Adam.
To date he is mainly growing the company by word of mouth, and has mainly concentrated on offering a bolus designed to lower somatic cell counts in dairy cows. The feedback from the farmers who have used the product has been very positive.
“We tell farmers to administer the bolus at the first sign of mastitis or in high cell count cows. It will help cleanse the udder and get rid of the infection. But it isn’t a miracle cure for chronic cows or an old cow where the damage is already done to the udder” said Adam.
As a natural product there is no withdrawal period and it can be used in organic as well as conventional dairy systems. The bolus isn’t cheap – with each treatment costing around £40, but that must be set against the initial cost of keeping milk out of the tank when an antibiotic tube is used, plus the cost of antibiotics. However, industry estimates put the cost of each individual case of mastitis at an average of anywhere between £150 and £250 when the long term effects of reduced milk yield are added in, so avoiding that cost is potentially money well spent.
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