By Haylay R. Springer
When you are running low on mastitis tubes or dry cow treatment, what do you do? If you call your veterinarian, the rest of this article may be of little impact to you, but if you go to your local farm store to get more, you should keep reading. Just as we saw the implementation of the veterinary feed directive in 2017, labeling of over the counter (OTC) livestock antibiotics, specifically antibiotic classes that are used in human medicine, is changing. By June 2023, these antibiotics will require a veterinary prescription for purchase. As these changes approach, it is important to understand why the changes are being made, what products are impacted, and how to prepare for a smooth transition.
Antibiotic resistance, when a pathogen is no longer impacted by an antibiotic that should kill it or stop its growth, is a risk to both human and animal health. Infections caused by these pathogens are more difficult to treat and are often more likely to cause death whether they occur in an animal or a person. Antibiotic stewardship is a collection of practices that aim to prevent antibiotic resistant bacteria from developing and spreading. There are two key aspects of on-farm antibiotic stewardship programs: reducing the need for antibiotics and judicious use of antibiotics. Practices that reduce the need for antibiotics are aimed at preventing disease and are likely part of your operation already. For example, vaccination protocols, proper colostrum management, and good cow comfort all contribute to antibiotic stewardship through improving animal health. The key to judicious use of antibiotics revolves around using the correct medication at the right dosage and for the proper duration for the condition being treated. This is best accomplished by working with your veterinarian to develop treatment protocols that cover how to identify disease, what product to treat with, and how to give that product. The upcoming label changes are, in part, being implemented to encourage you to work with your veterinarian to assure the best antibiotics for your farm are being utilized to assure judicious use of antibiotics and prevent the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Although the upcoming changes to antibiotic labels will impact many products carried by local farm stores, it will not impact all livestock health products on the shelves. The label change to prescription status will only impact what are known as “medically important” antibiotics. These are antibiotics that are the same as, or closely related to medications used to treat disease in people. This includes injectable and oral bolus products containing penicillin, tetracycline, or most other antibiotics. It also impacts all mastitis and dry cow treatments but will not affect teat sealant products. Most other products, including de-wormers, fly preventatives, vaccines, and coccidiostats, will not be impacted by these changes. FDA’s website provides a full list of affected products.