Help with cost estimate for cost benefit analysis

Re: Help with cost estimate for cost benefit analysis

Michael Woodhouse — Sat, 02 May 2015 22:49:54 GMT

Selene

I share the same concerns as Mariette, the last thing the industry needs in research published suggesting that antibiotic treatment of ewes at drying off has a benefit. You can just imagine something like the farming press getting hold of it, and then hours spent explaining to farmers why they don't need to do so.

With respect, your cost benefit is meaningless if only a tiny proportion of the sheep flocks in the country would ever dream of getting a vet out to treat an individual ewe with mastitis. Could I suggest you looked at it based on the likelihood of the ewe dying and treatment costs by the farmer? I hope that would give you a much more realistic costing and keep the likelihood that routine antibiotic treatment is not economically justified. Start throwing in a few expensive vet visits and your figures are likely to suggest that antibiotic dry therapy is justified.

Ring around some farm practices in 'sheepy' areas and ask them how many ewes with mastitis they visit per year. Cumbria, North Yorkshire Moors and Dales, Scotland, Wales etc

Re: Help with cost estimate for cost benefit analysis

Selene Huntley — Sat, 02 May 2015 20:48:26 GMT

Dear Mariette,

Thank you for your comments.

I think the main thing to say is that the current body of research into mastitis in sheep suggests it is more complex than was originally thought. So, as well as seeking ways to help farms with high levels of clinical mastitis, one of the benefits of the study was to gain some further understanding of the role that infections that are present during the dry period may play in clinical mastitis around lambing and in early lactation. And yes, there are those cases happen later on in lactation too and towards weaning (and are some risk factors more important in cases at different times of lactation is a good question) . On this farm (which did have a considerable mastitis problem) we did see cases all the way through lactation until weaning and we also saw cases of clinical mastitis in untreated ewes during the dry period .

Although coliforms have been (relatively uncommonly) associated with clinical mastitis cases in sheep, I agree that they are not nearly as commonly associated with other bacteria such as Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica.

Hopefully it will be evident that we are not encouraging over-use or needless use of antibiotics when you read the paper. I should say that this study was done a few years ago and as a completed bit of research I have a duty to publish it asap . I am trying to update the financial analysis so I can get this process rolling (as it forms part of the paper) .

Many thanks

Selene

Re: Help with cost estimate for cost benefit analysis

mariette asselbergs — Fri, 01 May 2015 17:13:58 GMT

I am confused about the whole thing. In my experience mastitis in sheep occurs a few weeks into lambing season towards weaning, supposedly ass a result of vigorous suckling and lambs damaging teats. I have never heard of coli being an important factor or a factor at all.

I am even more surprised that at the time when dry cow treatment for cattle is on the verge of being prohibited and/or phased out as contributing to antimicrobial resistance, you seem to want to promote it in sheep?

Mariette

Re: Help with cost estimate for cost benefit analysis

Selene Huntley — Fri, 01 May 2015 11:48:22 GMT

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your answers. I do appreciate that most farmers will not call out the vet to visit a ewe with mastitis. For my PhD I followed five farms in England (for different reasons-the trial I mentioned was just one of the studies and was on one farm). Surprisingly, two of my study farms, neither of which were pedigree flocks, did call out vets to visit sick ewes with acute mastitis around lambing. Admittedly there is a bias here in that farms who are concerned enough about mastitis to take part in mastitis research are also likely to be more willing to pay for a vet visit for this, so I admit it is unusual. Probably the best thing for me to do is contact these two vet practices to check current prices, although I thought I'd try a forum first as I was hoping for more than 2 practices to base my estimate on!

This research concluded a few years ago although I am updating the partial farm budget so that I can submit this together with the results of the trial as a publication. I am pleased to say that the incidence of clinical mastitis over the following lactation was significantly lower in ewes that had received broad-spectrum dry off (administered at weaning) and the effect was more pronounced in early lactation. A possible explanation is that bacteria in the udder that are quiescent over the dry period and that otherwise could cause of case of acute mastitis when the ewe begins the next lactation, are eliminated . This would include most coliforms as it was a broad spectrum A-B.The study farm did have a high annual incidence of mastitis so part of the argument for doing the partial farm budget is to assess whether this is an intervention that may be feasible for such farms (with a mastitis "problem") and I suppose these are exactly the sort of farms that may feel pushed enough to call the vet out to these cases. I think your average farm with an average level of mastitis this isn't something that would be worth considering anyway!

Thanks for your responses, I appreciate the input from you all as you actually are , or until recently were, in practice. I'll call the actual practices involved but in the meantime any of the rare vets out there (who do occasionally get called out to such cases) that can supply me with any cost estimate I'd be very grateful.

Selene

Re: Help with cost estimate for cost benefit analysis

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 23:50:17 GMT

Selene,

We are in rural North Yorkshire. We have a LOT of sheep on our books (they sell over 50,000 gimmer lambs through Hawes auction Mart each autumn). I have NEVER been called out to attend a ewe with mastitis. We get a small number brought to the surgery, but most ring or call for treatment to be dispensed.

It is completely unrealistic to visit a ewe with mastitis.

The next issue seems to be your case definition. Please don't think I am picking holes in your work, but acute mastitis usually occurs in the first few weeks after lambing (particularly in a cold or wet spell as we are having now). Is your hypothesis somehow that this is carried over from the previous lactation? I'm unaware of any work supporting that hypothesis. Moredun did a recent handout on this, an older (more basic version) can be found here:

http://www.moredun.org.uk/webfm_send/346

Re: Help with cost estimate for cost benefit analysis

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 18:27:56 GMT

When I was in mixed practice,most farmers brought their ewes to the surgery, as opposed to having visits.

Also, sheep mastitis cases tended to be acute Staphs,whilst in cattle,dry cow therapy is mainly to reduce the incidence of chronic Streps, and, in fact, dry cow therapy can increase the incidence of acute post-partum coliform mastitis,as it decreases the udder's own defence mechanism. I'd be worried that this could apply to acute Staph infections in sheep.

Fair enough if you've already done the research and have proven that dry-period therapy actually does decrease the incidence of acute cases.

When would you administer dry-period therapy? It's not that easy to decide exactly when an individual lamb stops suckling, and, given the extended dry period, would the anti-biotic still be effective at lambing?

Wynne

Re: Help with cost estimate for cost benefit analysis

Sammy82 — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 18:06:23 GMT

This is a difficult one as farmers hardly ever call you out for one single ewe, unless lambing. Not been in farm practi e myself for over a year now so can't really help with prices.