%0 Journal Article
%T Cross-sectional prospective survey to study indication-based usage of antimicrobials in animals: Results of use in cattle
%A Katariina Thomson
%A Merja Rantala
%A Maria Hautala
%A Satu Py£¿r£¿l£¿
%A Liisa Kaartinen
%J BMC Veterinary Research
%D 2008
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1746-6148-4-15
%X The survey was sent to 681 veterinarians, of whom 262 (39%) responded. In total 2850 questionnaires were completed. The largest quantities of antimicrobials, measured in kilograms, were used for cattle, followed by pigs, dogs and horses. The species that were treated most were cattle (n = 1308), dogs (n = 989) and cats (n = 311). For cattle, the most common reason for treatment was acute mastitis (52%), followed by dry-cow therapy (21%), subclinical mastitis (6%) and treatment for acute enteritis (4%). The remaining treatments covered 17% of cattle patients and 15 different indications. For acute mastitis, parenteral or intramammary treatment was used in 36% and 34% of the cases, respectively. The remaining 30% received both treatments simultaneously. Of the parenteral treatments (n = 459), benzyl penicillin was used in 83% of the treated animals (n = 379), while fluoroquinolones were used in 49 cases (11%). Of the 433 cows receiving intramammary treatment, ampicillin combined with cloxacillin was most commonly used (n = 157; 36%), followed by cephalexin+streptomycin (n = 113; 26%).This cross-sectional prospective survey provided a useful method for the collection of information on the indication-based use of antimicrobials in different animal species. Cattle were the most commonly treated animal species during the study period. The most common indication for antimicrobial use in cows was mastitis. Benzyl penicillin was the drug most frequently used for the treatment of mastitis, which seems appropriate according to the national guidelines on the use of antimicrobials in cattle in Finland.The lack of species-specific data on antimicrobial use has been recognised as a major problem when trying to identify the relationship between use and the development of resistance [1,2]. Several countries publish annual data on the overall use of antimicrobials in the treatment of animal diseases [3-7]. However, those data only provide consumption figures on a general level. More
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/4/15