“The Test Says It, So It Is”: Veterinary Diagnostic Practice, Contextual Knowledge and Antimicrobials

• In Event: Antimicrobials in Livestock: Practices, Technologies, Markets, and Regulations

Abstract

This paper, drawing from an ongoing funded research project on diagnostic innovation in livestock farming, being undertaken in the UK, explores the role and practice of veterinary diagnosis and the relationship between the use (or non-use) of diagnostic tests and antimicrobial use. For some commentators, antimicrobials have largely reduced the need for diagnosis in both animal and human medicine. However, others point to the ‘unintended biology of biotechnological control’ (Landecker 2016, 41) as the ‘catastrophic threat (Davies 2013) threat of resistance grows. Today, improved and more sensible antimicrobial use might be achieved by better and innovative diagnostic procedures and technologies. Focusing on the spaces for innovation, this paper explores the complexity of veterinary diagnostic practice, the shifting technologies of diagnostic test mechanisms and the differential and selective forms of knowledge, information and data that are brought into play during the performance of clinical veterinary roles.

Author

• Henry Buller, University of Exeter