HELP PROTECT YOUR HERD AND OUR INDUSTRY

Welcome to the

programme

Antibiotic resistance affects us all, including our animals

These days, pretty much everyone has heard of antibiotic resistance. It’s what happens when bugs like Staph. aureus and Strep. uberis grow harder and harder to defeat with antibiotics.

 

If we’re not careful about how we use antibiotics, some bacteria may become so strong that we can't cure the infections they cause in animals or people.

So what can we do about it?

Using antibiotics responsibly is the duty of all doctors and veterinarians – but dairy farmers also have an important role to play. As well as using antibiotics the way your vet advises, you can help stop the spread of antibiotic resistance from farm to farm. The key is knowing if there are any resistant bugs lurking in your herd, or in animals you may bring onto the property. That’s where DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM comes in.

The unique power of DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM

DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM, or DAB for short, is New Zealand’s only herd test of it's kind. DAB results give your vet the inside knowledge on which antibiotic resistance genes are likely to be present within the bacteria on your farm. By identifying bugs that have acquired resistance genes to certain drugs, you and your vet can choose the best treatment and management plans to improve herd health and reduce the risk of transmission into, within, or out of your herd.

DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM is a test which shows the farmer and vet how sensitive the bacteria on the individual farm are to different antibiotic treatments.

This then allows the vet to understand which antibiotic will be the most effective treatment for your herd.

This enables the antibiotics to be used in a way that maximises their effectiveness and minimises the growth of resistance.

How does the
test work?

Step One
1
Go to www.dab.elanco.co.nz and click ‘I’m a farmer’. Complete your details – and your vet’s. Or just give your vet a call and they can organise a test for you. Make sure you have your supply number handy
Step Two
2
If you’ve used the website, your vet will be alerted. Discuss your aims with them, and what might be the best time to test your herd.
Step Three
3
After your vet requests the test, a bulk milk sample from the tanker is collected and sent to a specialist lab
Step Four
4
Bugs from your herd’s milk sample undergo a series of procedures to test their resistance toten antibiotics routinely used to treat mastitis.
Step Five
5
From milk sample collection to completion of the tests takes around 3-4 weeks.
Step Six
6
The test results are provided to your vet, displayed in the unique DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM format which allows your vet to quickly and easily determine which types of resistance are present. They can then advise you of the best way to ensure the ongoing health and safety of your herd, and everyone who works with them.

7

7 Key
Benefits

to using DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM
testing as part of your animal
health planning are:

Know and understand your farms resistance status.
Monitor if your resistance status is changing over time.
The ability to plan and use effective mastitis treatments.
The ability to avoid using expensive treatments when other more cost effective treatments will be effective.
Identify threats to your herd which can then be investigated further and managed, removed.
Help the dairy industry demonstrate the responsible use of antibiotics to dairy markets and end consumers.
Develop biosecurity plans to protect a "good" resistance status.

10

The antibiotics DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM tests against are:

The results indicate if resistance to each of these antibiotics is present within the Staph. aureus and Strep. uberis bacteria collected from your herd sample, and if present, what type of resistance it is likely to be.

1
Penicillin
2
Cloxacillin
3
Ampicillin
4
Cefazolin
5
Tylosin
6
Amoxicillin/
Clavulanic Acid
7
Cefuroxime
8
Oxytetracycline
9
Lincomycin
10
Neomycin

What do your DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM results tell you?

?

DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM will demonstrate how resistant the mastitis bacteria are to 10 Antibiotics.
With this information specific to your farm, your vet will be better able to assess:

Which antibiotics you should or should not be using on your farm.
What risk the bacteria identified in your sample pose to sustainable mastitis management in your herd, and to other herds.
If there are mastitis bacteria identified that potentially pose a threat to at-risk people such as the elderly, immunocompromised or surgical patients.
Whether you need to consider biosecurity measures to protect your herds’ clean resistance status.
If there are resistant bacteria identified in your sample that your family and staff should be aware of.

proudly brought to you by Elanco.

Elanco is committed to the sustainable and responsible use of antibiotics.

We are happy to provide further information and specialist technical support to your vet.

To best understand the current resistance status, and to monitor change over time in your herd, we recommend DAIRYANTIBIOGRAM testing twice yearly.

If you would like to learn more please contact your vet or Elanco Territory Manager on 0800 446 121.