Mastitis

Mastitis is the costliest disease of dairy cattle and each year causes economic losses of 35 billion dollars in the global dairy industry, which represents a 7-8% shortfall in dairy revenue.
Bacteria are normally classified into 3 groups: environmental, contagious and mix infections.
- Contagious organisms are well adapted to survival and growth in the mammary gland and are frequently responsible for chronic infections. Examples are Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae and Mycoplasma spp.
- Environmental organism: They live in the environment, mainly in the bedding, and the infection happens between milkings. They produce short duration intramammary infections and they have high clinical incidence.. Examples are Escherichia coli, Streptococcus uberis and other coliforms like Klebsiella spp.
- Pathogens with mixed characteristics like Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CNS) and Streptococcus dysgalactiae.
SIGNS
Mastitis is an inflammation of the udder which can be defined as either clinical or sub-clinical:
- Clinical mastitis: Detection of clinical mastitis is based on 3 parameters. Depending on how many are affected, we will have a different grade of mastitis. The classification is as follows:
Mild | Milk secretion altered | GRADE 1 |
---|---|---|
Moderate | Milk secretion and mammary gland altered | GRADE 2 |
Severe | Secretion, mammary gland and general state of health altered | GRADE 3 |
Diagnostic Methods for Investigating Mastitis and Udder Health Problems
Diagnosis of clinical mastitis is based on the appearance of abnormally appearing milk. Milk may be off color, watery, bloody or have the appearance of serum. Abnormal milk may also contain varying amounts of puss and clots. The amount of swelling, severity of pain and the overall appearance of the cow will indicate the severity of infection and serve as a guide for the course of treatment.
Milk culture of suspected quarters or cows (composite samples) will identify the presence of mastitis pathogens but will not provide a measure of the degree of inflammation associated with the infection. Individual cow SCC will provide a determination of the level of infection within the herd.
VETALB -Laboratory Tests
Milk Cultures


Individual Cow Samples
Bulk Milk Cultures


Individual Cow Somatic Cell Counts (SCC)
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