Animal health and welfare, quality of milk, antibiotic usage and the image of the dairy sector are the considered to be the important issues in mastitis control programme. Enhanced milking hygiene, implementation of post-milking teat disinfection, maintenance of milking machines are some of the measures to prevent bovine mastitis. Several risk factors which include pathogen, host, and environmental factors are known to have significant association with the incidence of bovine mastitis and play an important role in the mastitis control programs .
Since effective mastitis control programs rely more on prevention rather than treatment, knowledge on various predisposing factors in the epidemiology of bovine mastitis is of paramount importance to formulate the prevention strategies. Nevertheless, there is paucity of information on the extend of the risk associated with various predisposing factors in the incidence of bovine mastitis. Hence, the study aims at reporting the various epidemiological risk factors associated with the occurrence of clinical and subclinical bovine mastitis and their causal association.
Author(s) Details:
R Navaneethan
Kurichi Veterinary Dispensary, Kumbakonam Division, Tanjore District-612 504, Tamil Nadu, India.
S Saravanan
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli-627 358, Tamil Nadu, India.
P Suresh
Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal-637 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
Recent Global Research Developments in Selective Treatment Strategies for Clinical Mastitis in Dairy Cattle
An invited review titled “Selective Treatment of Clinical Mastitis in Dairy Cattle” [1] sheds light on advancements in this area. Here are some key points:
Selective Treatment Protocol: Over the last decade, researchers have made significant progress in excluding non-severe clinical mastitis (CM) cases from antimicrobial treatment. These cases have a high probability of cure without antimicrobials (e.g., no bacterial causes or gram-negative, excluding Klebsiella spp.) or are chronic cases with a low bacteriological cure rate.
Diagnostic Tests: Rapid diagnostic tests, somatic cell count, and CM records play a crucial role in decision-making. By combining these factors, veterinarians can tailor treatment approaches more effectively.
Consequences: The review also explores the impact of selective treatment on udder health, antimicrobial use (AMU), and farm economics.
References
- de Jong, E., McCubbin, K. D., Speksnijder, D., Dufour, S., Middleton, J. R., Ruegg, P. L., … & Barkema, H. W. (2023). Invited review: Selective treatment of clinical mastitis in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 106(6), 3761-3778.
- Li X, Xu C, Liang B, Kastelic JP, Han B, Tong X and Gao J (2023) Alternatives to antibiotics for treatment of mastitis in dairy cows. Front. Vet. Sci. 10:1160350. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1160350
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