Monitoring bovine tick fever on a dairy farm: An economic proposal for rational use of medications

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the monitoring of tick fever (TF) in a Brazilian dairy farm in the Minas Gerais state, Brazil, from July 10 to August 4, 2018. We aimed to identify diagnostic and treatment flaws in the protocol adopted by the farm, and to establish a novel and accurate TF monitoring protocol based on precision dairy farming and rational use of antimicrobials and antiparasitic drugs, while evaluating the economic benefits of the proposed strategy. We monitored TF in 395 heifer calves aged between 3 and 14 mo. According to the farm's standard protocol, all calves with an increase of 0.5°C in rectal temperature compared with the previous week's measurement were treated for Anaplasma spp. and Babesia spp. Blood smears were collected from the tail tip of the treated calves. During the last week of the study, we prepared blood smears of all calves regardless of treatment indication. Economic analysis was performed. The results indicated that at least 56.86% (261/459) of the calves did not require treatment for TF, whereas only 23.09% (106/459) had treatment indications. Negative blood smears (45.97%; 211/459) indicated the possibility of calves being affected by another disease or a condition that was not being adequately treated or those not necessarily sick. These results demonstrate the excessive use of medications, representing a direct economic loss, in addition to potentially favoring the occurrence of resistance to antimicrobials. In contrast, 9.42% (26/276) of calves had no treatment indication based on rectal temperature but had treatment indications based on blood smears. Only 5.73% (42/735) of blood smears had co-infection with hemopathogens, and none had triple co-infection. Therefore, we proposed the monitoring of TF using rectal temperature and microscopic analysis. If implemented, this strategy would result in a direct annual savings of approximately $22,638.96 (77.99%) related to medication for the treatment of TF. Therefore, implementing the proposed protocol would be cheaper than treatment based only on rectal temperatures. The currently implemented TF protocols overestimate the occurrence of TF, resulting in overtreatment. Thus, implementing a TF monitoring protocol based on a microscopy tool is justified, with benefits including rational use of medication, potential to generate savings, and reduced morbidity and mortality rates, in addition to enabling other diagnoses.

Keywords: Anaplasma marginale; Babesia spp.; microscopy; precision dairy farming.