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VikingNews AU 2019-1
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low use of
antibiotics
w hat are the main duties for the swedish
agricultural authorities with regard to cow inspections? the swedish board of agriculture (sba) collects data
from different sources such as calving, purchase, trading and culling. the sba also obtains data such as treatments reported by veterinaries and farmers on an individual basis. the data include all herds that send data to the swedish cattle database, that also obtains data from other sources such as on hoof-trimming, artificial insemination, milk analysis, milk production, slaughter data and conformation classification. a livestock cooperative, växa sverige, maintains and manages records from the swedish board of agriculture. what is the aim of the cow register in sweden? the records are used to be able to trace animals in the event of out- breaks of animal diseases. and of course the information is used in the evaluation of breeding values for health traits for bulls and cows in the nordic countries. what benefits do farmers get for entering data in the cow register? it enables them to compare their herd with national benchmarks and to see trends over time. they can also view statistics and how their herd has developed over time. what is more, all information from the herd is held in the data- base including information on each individual cow regarding e.g. milk production. it also provides a basis for advisory services such as calcu- lating feeding rations and i can use it in my daily work advising farmers that i see regularly and that enables me to implement improvement schemes. it is the best management tool on herd level. many farmers also feel proud to contribute and view the registers as quality measures and a tool for anal- ysis purposes. ?we always use a narrow spectrum of antibiotics? sofia muñoz is employed by the swedish board of agriculture (sba) and she explains that they are not only responsible for border control and official tasks but are also active in both large and small animal practices. ?to ensure that all animals have access to veterinary care even if the owner lives in a remote area and therefore we also ensure animal welfare is safeguarded,? she says while explaining about cow inspections, registration systems, low use of antibiotics and protocols for the transportation of cattle for breeding. sofia munõz, district veterinary based on the swedish west coast: the use of antibiotics is very re- strictively controlled in sweden; can you describe how the process to get antibiotics for a farmer works? what are the most common rea- sons a vet prescribes antibiotics? in sweden we only use antibiotics if a vet determines that the animal has a bacterial infection that its own de- fence system cannot overcome, or not using antibiotics would entail unnecessary suffering. a farmer can only get antibiotics on prescription from a vet for an in- dividual animal. a couple of years ago, farmers that have particularly healthy ani- mals were permitted to keep certain medications on the farm if an ap- proved vet makes regular visits. the vet then provides preventive coun- selling at one to six-week intervals depending on the herd size and over- all health status. most cases treated with antibiotics in cattle relate to mastitis in dairy cat- tle where the most common treatment is penicillin. 8 vikingnews | march 2019
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