Attitudes, Social Influences and Decision-Making in the Choice of Antimicrobials for the Treatment of Bovine Mastitis

Abstract

The excessive and irrational use of antimicrobials for the control of bovine mastitis has been the subject of study throughout the world for many decades. Currently, the use of antimicrobials in livestock is of great interest from the “One Health” approach. Scientific research has revealed that the reasons for the inappropriate use of antimicrobials in production are related to human behavior, political, commercial, and economic factors. The objective of this study was to understand the attitudes toward the use of the laboratory and the social influences for decision-making in the choice of antimicrobials in the treatment of bovine mastitis in the North of Antioquia, Colombia. The study was developed through mixed methods (cross-sectional and grounded theory) with a convergent triangulation design. Two hundred and sixteen dairy farmers and 9 veterinarians participated. The results allow us to conclude that the problem of antimicrobial resistance related to mastitis and udder health planning depends on both technical aspects and access to knowledge and to laboratory services and, perhaps, even more importantly, on the culture and social relations that are established between the dairy farmer and the other actors of the dairy chain in the north of Antioquia.