A study investigating the use of antibiotics and knowledge about antibiotics of freshwater fish farmers in the Mekong Delta showed that 78.9% of the surveyed fish farmers said that when they saw a high mortality rate, they immediately used antibiotics to treat without any diagnostic analysis or professional assistance.

Among those surveyed, 76.7% of respondents believed that antibiotics can be used to treat bacterial diseases, 13.3% said that antibiotics can also be used to treat viral diseases.

At the same time, the use of antibiotics is also influenced by unreliable information sources, such as fish farmers asking drug sellers about how to use them. Some antibiotics listed as ‘cautious’ for human use, along with banned antibiotics, were also still used by the surveyed farmers.

The study “Usage and knowledge of antibiotics of fish farmers in small-scale freshwater aquaculture in the Red River Delta, Vietnam” published in the journal Aquaculture Research, recommends that regulators consider other national models to monitor and regulate the use of antibiotics in aquaculture.

Regulatory bodies, training institutions, and manufacturers should work together to improve counseling services, provide training in disease diagnosis, promote responsible antibiotic use, and create other methods instead of antibiotic therapy.

Source tepbac.com

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Science & Development