This One Health campaign is about raising awareness of the responsibility farmers have when using antibiotics to treat disease in their animals, and about understanding that any use of antibiotics contributes to the development of antibiotic resistance in humans, animals and our environment.

Actions to promote healthier animals will result in a more profitable and sustainable farming sector.

However, it is understood that antibiotics are vital to protect animal health and welfare. This is why we talk about using them as little as possible but as much as necessary, while investing time in management practices to keep animals healthy.

A simple tip for any farmer is to discuss with their vet and identify areas where they can work together to reduce the level of antibiotic use through looking at husbandry and facilities on farm.

An example of this I saw recently was where a farmer was treating a high number of pneumonia cases every spring in calves. The farmer worked with his vet to increase shed ventilation along with intranasal vaccination in young calves to dramatically reduce the level of antibiotic usage.

Department AMR taskforce Caroline Garvan Rob Doyle Julie Bolton with Journal Vet Tommy Heffernan at CAVI conference last weekend in Limerick.

Healthier calves meant less antibiotic costs, as well as improved growth rates, feed conversion efficiency and better animal performance.

By using less antibiotics, the farmer is also less likely to have a build-up of resistant bacteria in the farm environment.

It is important we use antibiotics correctly at all times, from when your vet prescribes a treatment, to when we dispose of any empty bottles.

When your vet prescribes an antibiotic for an animal, it is essential that you have incoming records of purchase (eg invoice).

Then as the animal is treated with the medicine you must keep a record of treatment.

You must also keep your prescription until you have finished using all the antibiotic prescribed. The prescription will contain details of follow-up treatment for a sick animal that was seen.

All the details of how to use the antibiotic will be on your prescription, and usage details must be put in your medicines book record. In terms of recording antibiotic use on farm, the legislation requires that you have:

  • A record of the date administered and name of product used.
  • Identity of animal treated.
  • Dose given.
  • Withdrawal period for the antibiotic.
  • It is so important also to ensure you give the right dose by weight of the animal.

    This is critical to avoid overdosing, but also particularly under dosing an animal, which greatly increases the risk of resistance occurring.

    Every medicine will have clear directions around which route it should be administered by and for how many days.

    This will be on the label attached by your vet and also on the prescription. Always complete the full course of the antibiotic even if the animal appears better, so follow your prescription.

    Correct usage

    In our video this week, we have vets Donal Lynch and Connor Geraghty talking through the recording of use of antibiotics, as well as giving advice on how to inject animals correctly.

    When you are storing bottles of antibiotic on farm prior to treatment it is important that they are securely stored and kept at room temperature, unless otherwise specified by your vet. Finally, when you have finished any course of treatment, the empty bottle must be disposed of correctly into a biohazard container, and collected by a registered clinical waste disposal company. It is really important that empty bottles are not left on farm as they pose a threat of contents leaking out into the environment, and further driving the development of resistant bacteria in our soil and watercourses.