Using AI to pinpoint mastitis bacteria
The New Zealand dairy industry has made great progress but still has a fair way to go to get farmers to stop using antibiotics prophylactically and instead use them selectively for a cow with a proven and identified infection, veterinarian and DairySmart Chief Executive Ben Davidson says. Words Sheryl Haitana.
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It’s great to see that a lot of farmers have made the move toward selective dry cow antibiotic use. But when you look at the numbers there is still an awful lot of farmers who use blanket dry cow therapy.”
The risk of ongoing prophylactic use of antibiotics is increased antibiotic resistance, Ben says.
Antibiotic resistance is one of the top three priorities for the World Health Organization and antibiotic-resistant bacteria can transfer between humans, animals and the environment.
“For animals it’s something we’ve talked about for a long time, but it’s really starting to rear its ugly head now. Cases of Methicillin-resistant Staph. aureus (MRSA) have been found in New Zealand dairy cows and it may be the tip of the iceberg – we don’t know how prevalent it is. It’s a very dangerous bacteria.”
New innovative milk culturing systems are available for New Zealand farms allowing farmers to find and identify different bacteria in a short time frame and treat them accordingly, Ben says.
DairySmart is using artificial intelligence learning models and technology to help farmers collect a milk sample on farm and run a simple microbiological culture test to get a result within 24 hours. Running this test for a cow with mastitis, or during the season if she has a high somatic cell count, or testing before drying them off can give farmers better information on which bacteria is present and thus which treatment to use, Ben says.
“Our technology is very accurate at distinguishing between the different staphylococcus bacteria. And it’s very important that you do, because some species of staphylococcus are more problematic than others in a herd.
“All of our plate reading is done through a Jupiter diagnostic machine, which farmers can have on farm or they take the milk samples to a vet clinic that runs a Jupiter machine,” explains Ben. “Once plated, the sample is incubated for 24 hours before being put into the diagnostic machine, where a series of photos are taken to be put through the software algorithm. RFID technology is utilised to collect a large number of milk samples for identification of bacteria, as well as Johne’s and BVD testing.
“This relatively cheap test gives you a lot of powerful information. It has given our farmers the confidence to step away from blanket use of dry cow therapy and reduce their costs.”
The European Union has a ban on blanket dry cow treatment, with farmers needing a positive culture/bacteria test result to show there is a bacteria present before they can give a dry cow antibiotic. Antibiotic stewardship is about collecting data such as a milk culture result and making an informed decision before using an antibiotic, he says.
“The best stewardship is when you know exactly what bacteria you’re dealing with. We really need vets and farmers to be front-footing this.”
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