Improving animal health: prevention is better than cure

Antibiotic use in animal husbandry is a main concern. When developing strategies to reduce antibiotic use, it is important to acknowledge that disease has a strong association with transitions. Transitions encompass the shift from one life phase to another. Animal health is influenced by two major factors that can change during a transition: the environment of the animal (incl. presence of pathogens) and the resilience of the animal. Resilience is the capacity of the animal to adapt to changing circumstances and is influenced by stress. Preventive measures regarding animal health should therefore not only focus on pathogens, but also on the animal itself, by improving resilience. In intensive animal husbandry, animals undergo several transitions, varying from birth to weaning to transportation to a new facility. A transition like weaning not only puts the animal at risk of contact with pathogens, by mixing and regrouping animals, but also induces stress by placing the animal in unfamiliar surroundings with new feeding or drinking systems. In piglets, weaning is considered to be the most critical transition, associated with high incidence of disease and high antibiotic use. And while calving in dairy cattle signals the birth of a new calf and the onset of the new lactation, it is also the opening to the majority of the disease events that occur in the life of a cow. The impact of transitions on animal health is influenced by management practices and husbandry conditions that determine the total load of the animal. Some factors that contribute are well researched, the contribution of others still has to be established. Keeping piglets from a social group together and in the same pen during and after weaning for example, results in better feed intake and a decrease in disease incidence. The challenge is to optimize transition management in existing systems, but also in designing new systems better adapted to the animal’s needs. Thereby, disease occurrence and antibiotic use will decrease and animal health and performance will increase.