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Background Meningoencephalitis of unknown origin (MUO) is an inflammatory disease of the canine central nervous system (CNS) that shares several features with multiple sclerosis (MS) in humans. In approximately 95% of MS patients, ≥ two immunoglobulin G (IgG) oligoclonal bands (OCBs) are detectable exclusively in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Hypothesis/objectives To investigate OCBs in CSF and serum in dogs affected by MUO, intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), idiopathic epilepsy (IE), intracranial neoplasia (IN), steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis (SRMA), and diseases outside the CNS. We hypothesize that the highest prevalence of CSF-specific OCBs (≥ two OCBs uniquely in the CSF) would be found in dogs affected by MUO. Animals Client-owned dogs (n = 121) presented to the neurology service due to neurological deficits. Methods Prospective study. Measurement of IgG concentration in CSF and serum via a canine IgG ELISA kit. OCB detection via isoelectric focusing (IEF) and immunoblot. Results Presence of CSF-specific OCBs was significantly higher in dogs with MUO (57%) compared to 22% in IN, 6% in IE, 15% in SRMA, 13% in IVDD, and 0% in the non-CNS group (p < .001). Dogs with MUO were 9.9 times more likely to show CSF-specific OCBs than all other diseases together (95% confidence interval, 3.7–26.4; p < .001). Conclusions and clinical importance MUO showed the highest prevalence of CSF-specific OCBs, indicating an inflammatory B cell response. Future studies are needed to evaluate the prevalence in the specific MUO subtypes and a possible similarity with human MS.

Peripheral nerve blocks are commonly used in human and veterinary medicine. The aim of the study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of a combined block of the femoral and sciatic nerves with an epidural injection of ropivacaine in experimental sheep undergoing orthopaedic hind limb surgery. Twenty-five sheep were assigned to two groups (peripheral nerve block, sciatic and femoral nerves (P), epidural analgesia (E)). In group P 10 mL ropivacaine 0.5% was injected around the sciatic and the femoral nerves under sonographic guidance and 10 mL NaCl 0.9% into the epidural space while in group E 10 mL ropivacaine 0.5% was injected into the epidural space and 10 mL NaCl 0.9% to the sciatic and the femoral nerves. During surgery, heart rate, respiratory rate and mean blood pressure were used as indicators of nociception. In the postoperative phase, nociception was evaluated every hour by use of a purposefully adapted pain score until the animal showed painful sensation at the surgical site. The mean duration of analgesia at the surgical wound was 6 h in group P and 8 h in group E. Mean time to standing was 4 h in group P and 7 h in group E. In conclusion time to standing was significantly shorter in group P while the duration of nociception was comparable in both groups. The peripheral nerve block can be used as an alternative to epidural analgesia in experimental sheep.

Understanding farmers’ mindsets is important to improve antimicrobial stewardship in the dairy industry. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine farmers’ knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to lactational intramammary antimicrobial use (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Swiss dairy herds. Based on their approach towards subclinical mastitis (SCM) and non-severe cases of clinical mastitis (CM), subgroups of farmers were identified and compared regarding their knowledge, attitude and practices towards AMU and AMR. After conducting qualitative interviews to develop a questionnaire, an online survey was sent to 1296 randomly selected Swiss dairy farmers. Information was gathered on demographic data and farmers’ knowledge, attitude, and practices towards AMU and AMR. A latent class analysis was performed to identify subgroups of farmers based on management of SCM and non-severe CM cases. Based on the results of 542 completed questionnaires, poor knowledge with respect to AMU and AMR was identified, as well as discrepancies between farmers’ perceptions and their actual practices. Farmers approached cows with SCM and non-severe CM similarly, indicating they perceived both mastitis states as the same disease. Intramammary antimicrobial products containing cefquinome, which is a highest priority critically important antimicrobial, were among the 3 most commonly applied intramammary antimicrobials. Five latent classes of farmers were identified based on their management towards SCM and non-severe CM. One group of farmers (18.5% of respondents) indicated that they did not treat those mastitis cases, one group only treated SCM cases (13.8% of respondents), one group only treated non-severe CM cases (28.6% of respondents) and the largest group treated both mastitis states (39.1% of respondents). The latter group was subdivided into a latent class of farmers following guidelines for AMU/AMR (25.5% of respondents) and a group of farmers that were not strictly following these guidelines (13.7% of respondents). Regional differences between farmers, according to altitude and language region, explained some of the variation in latent class membership. Latent class membership was associated with farmers’ attitude to use antimicrobials as little as possible and with using antimicrobials only after performing bacteriological and susceptibility testing. This study gave detailed insight into Swiss farmers’ knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding AMU and AMR and provides opportunities to improve antimicrobial stewardship in Swiss dairy herds. The identified groups of farmers, based on their management practices regarding SCM and non-severe CM, may help to design tailored intervention strategies for improving prudent AMU in the heterogeneous population of dairy farmers in Switzerland., Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 179, ISSN:0167-5877

Resistances to antimicrobials pose serious public health challenges. This issue concerns both human and veterinary medicine and can only be solved by a multidisciplinary approach. A comprehensive concept is, therefore, being worked out within the StAR (strategy antibiotic resistance) program in order to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for humans as well as animals. In this context, the AntibioticScout (www.AntibioticScout. ch) offers a new online tool for the prudent use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine. By involving all stakeholders, the guidelines included in the AntibioticScout will result in a nationwide accepted standard for the treatment of bacterial infections in animals. An additional system for the rapid reporting of cases of suspected lack of efficacy of antimicrobials is integrated to allow early detection of emerging resistance and the immediate launch of risk mitigation measures. A first version of the AntibioticScout for the treatment of dogs, cats and horses is available by the end of 2016. All stakeholders are now invited to contribute to the development of the AntibioticScout decision support.

The "outdoor veal calf" system was developed to encounter the demand for a veal fattening system that allows for reducing antimicrobial use without impairing animal welfare. Management improvements including direct purchase, short transportation, vaccination, three-week quarantine in individual hutches, and open-air housing in small groups in a roofed, straw-bedded paddock with a group hutch were implemented in a prospective intervention study (1905 calves, 19 intervention and 19 control farms, over one year): antimicrobial use was five times lower in "outdoor veal" farms compared to control farms (p < 0.001), but it was crucial to ensure that antimicrobial treatment reduction was not associated with decreased animal welfare, i.e., that sick animals were not left untreated. Welfare was assessed monthly on the farms, and organs of 339 calves were examined after slaughter. Cough and nasal discharge were observed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) less often in intervention than in control farms, mortality (3.1% vs. 6.3%, p = 0.020) and lung lesion prevalence (26% vs. 46%, p < 0.001) were lower; no group difference was seen in abomasal lesion prevalence (65% vs. 72%). Thus, besides reduced antimicrobial use, calf health and welfare were improved in "outdoor veal calf" farms in comparison to traditional operations.

The increasing incidence of antimicrobial resistance represents a global threat. As a result, surveillance programmes monitoring antimicrobial consumption and resistance in animals have been implemented in several countries throughout the world. However, such programmes depend on the accurate and detailed collection of data on antimicrobial consumption. For this reason, the aim of this longitudinal study was to compare the consistency of data on antimicrobial consumption between three different data collection methods. Antimicrobial consumption data associated to udder health were collected from 20 veterinary practices and 92 dairy farms for 18 months. The compared data sources were: 1) data extracted from veterinary practice software 2) farm treatment journals and 3) on-farm discarded drug packages (garbage). Two different procedures were chosen to analyse the data issued from treatment journals: 1) only complete entries were analysed 2) entries with missing dosage were supplemented with the information provided by the Swiss Compendium of Veterinary Medicinal Products. The antimicrobial data were divided into intramammary preparations used during lactation (IMM), intramammary preparations used for dry off (DRY) and systemic treatments (SYS). We compared the quantities of injectors (IMM and DRY), the quantities of active substances (SYS) and the treatment incidences (TI) for the defined daily dose (DDD) per 1000 cow-days (IMM and SYS) and the defined course dose (DCD) per 1000 cow-days (DRY). Additionally, the variety of antimicrobial products among the different data sources was compared. The highest quantity of antimicrobials for IMM, DRY and SYS could be collected with the software data. The lowest quantity was collected by using the data of the treatment journal with only complete entries. For IMM and DRY, software and garbage performed similar, with agreement on the number of injectors used in 56.1% of the analysed cases. The widest variety of intramammary antimicrobial preparations was found in the garbage whilst most systemic preparations were collected using software data. The results of the study show a lack of data consistency between the three different data sources. None of the methods was able to collect the integral antimicrobial consumption in the participating farms. Finally, the results emphasise the need to implement a standardised system to quantify and assess the antimicrobial consumption at veterinary practice and farm level.