Veterinarians in UP prescribe herbs over antibiotics for cattle
BAREILLY: Last year, the owner of a local animal farm had approached the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, for help. Some of the calves at his farm had contacted diarrhoea and were not recovering despite prescribed doses of antibiotics.
The IVRI experts asked the farmer to cut down on the antibiotic dosage and start administering ajwain (Ajwain Caraway) to the calves. Much to the man’s surprise, the calves recovered soon after.
Administering ajwain, a common kitchen remedy, was made by Dr BR Singh, principal scientist (bacteriologist) and head of the epidemiology department at IVRI. Singh and his team had researched and found several herbal medicinal oils to be effective in combating an array of bacteria.
Their findings are particularly useful against the backdrop of bacterial strains developing resistance towards antibiotics.
“The research was aimed at looking for alternative medicines to curb the growth of bacterium rather than relying only on antibiotics,” Singh said.
His team focused on bacteria which causes diarrhoea, a common health disorder that can quickly turn fatal if not treated properly .
“Diarrhoea is a leading cause of deaths in calves. This affects the income of farmers,” he said.
According to the research published by IVRI in its annual report, the team collected a total of 199 diarrhoea-causing bacterial strains from different sources. The samples were tested in batches with 25 conventional antibiotics and eight herbal medicinal oils.
“60% of the strains were found resistant towards conventional antibiotics including imipenem, gentamicin and colistin. However, medicinal oils hampered the growth of almost all the strains to varied levels.” Singh said.
He said the most effective was ajwain essential oil (AEO), extracted from Ajwain, which hindered the growth of almost all the strains, followed by cinnamon essential oil (from cinnamon), which was effective against 96% of the strains.