Farmers' Perception of Antibiotic Use in Lactating Dairy Cows and its Impact on Public Health in A Selected Area of Khulna District

The study was conducted to identify the pattern of antibiotic use among lactating dairy cows in a selected area of ​​Khulna district. Data were collected from sixty (60) farmers associated with dairy farms through survey using interview schedule. The results of the survey revealed that majority of the respondents (60%) had long term experience in livestock rearing followed by short term (21.7%) and medium-term experience (18.3%) in livestock rearing. More than two-thirds (65%) of the respondents used vitamins and minerals and the remaining 35% of the respondents did not use them for farming their livestock. Half (50%) of the respondents vaccinate their cattle regularly to protect them from diseases and the other half (50%) said they did not vaccinate their cattle at all. Majority (85%) of the respondents isolated the sick cattle and remaining 15% of the respondents said that they did not isolate their cattle when sick. Majority of the respondents (60%) did not apply any hormones to their cattle and remaining 40% of the respondents applied hormones to their cattle. More than two-thirds of respondents (68.3%) said that hormones were recommended by local doctors for use on cattle farms, and 31.7% of respondents said that they were recommended by veterinarians. More than two-thirds of the respondents (65%) did not use antibiotics and the remaining 35% used antibiotics for livestock rearing. Most of the respondents (65%) said that antibiotics were recommended by local doctors for livestock and 35% by veterinarians. Most of the respondents (78.3%) said that antibiotics have no adverse effects and 20% of the respondents said that antibiotics used in livestock rearing have adverse effects on human health. Most of the respondents (76.7%) do not know the impact of using antibiotics in livestock farming on public health, 11.7% of respondents said no impact, 10% of respondents said toxicity due to antibiotic residues in animal products and only 1.7% stated failure of therapy in humans. Most of the respondents (76.7%) did not know the impact of using antibiotics in livestock farming on public health, 11.7% of respondents said no impact, 10% of respondents said toxicity due to antibiotic residues in animal products and only 1.7% stated failure of therapy in humans. About half (48.3%) of the respondents used antibiotics for the treatment of sick animals, 20% of the respondents used them to treat mastitis, 20% for growth promotion and the remaining 11.7% of the respondents used them to increase milk production. Less than half of the respondents (46.7%) procured antibiotics from drug stores, 40% from veterinary companies and 13.3% from local vendors for use in livestock farming. Most of the respondents (80%) said that the antibiotics were recommended by the veterinarian and 20% of the respondents said that it was recommended by the animal health workers. More than half of respondents (55%) did not currently use antibiotics and 45% of respondents used antibiotics for their livestock. More than two-thirds (65%) of respondents sold milk during antibiotic use in lactating cows and 35% of respondents did not sell milk during antibiotic use. Most of the respondents (89.8%) do not know the rules of antibiotic use and only 10.2% of the respondents know the rules of antibiotic use for livestock farming. Most of the respondents (91.7%) do not know about the government agency and 8.3% of the respondents know the government agency for livestock farming. About 85% of the respondents faced moderate severe problems, followed by 13.3% highly severe problems and 1.7% less severe problems while rearing cattle. It can be concluded that people in the study area are using antibiotics indiscriminately and it is important to create awareness among them against the use of antibiotics in dairy cows to reduce human health risk from antibiotic residues.

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