Mastitis Flashcards
What is the important of Mastitis?
Reduced milk production Reduced milk value Premature culling or death of cows Non-saleable milk Animal welfare impact Reproductive effects
What is the important of Mastitis to the consumer?
Altered milk composition - Flavor and shelf-life
Yield and quality of milk products
Cost
Concerns about safety
What is the importance of Mastitis to the Dairy veterinarian?
Time
Income
economic success of dairy clients
What are the basics of control for mastitis?
Minimize organisms on skin Prevent entry Limit multiplication clear organisms quickly Treat/manage infected cows appropriately
What are the defenses of the Udder?
Teat canal Phagocytic WBCs Antibacterial enzymes Lactoferrin Cytotoxic lymphocytes Lo O2 tension Complement Immunoglobulins
What is the test for diagnosing Mastitis?
California Mastitis Test
What is the predominant form of clinical mastitis?
Mild clinical mastitis
What is the least common form of clinical mastitis?
Severe clinical mastitis
What are the signs of Severe Clinical mastitis?
Change in milk visibly inflamed gland Sick cow Fever anorexia depression dehydration weakness death
Contagious Mastitis
Spread from cow to cow at milking time
Environmental Mastitis
Acquired between milkings or during the dry period
Teat skin is contaminated by pathogens from environmental sources
Mastitis is transient and often clinical
How long are the teat defenses compromised?
2-3 hours
What are the important fomites of Contagious Mastitis?
Milking cluster
Towels
Sponges
Hands of milking staff
What happens with the milking cluster than causes Contagious Mastitis?
“Liner slips” at end of milking admit air into liner creating reverse pressure gradient
What is the best way to reduce incidence of new infections?
Post-milking test disinfection
What are the factors affecting post dipping efficacy?
Must achieve good skin coverage Type and concentration of germicide Every teat Every milking Everyday
What are the best ways to prevent contagious mastitis?
Post-dipping
Individual towels to dry +- wash teats
Gloves
Clean and dry milking liners between cows
Regular milking machine evaluation
Milking procedures that promote milk ejection
Milking infected cows last
Cull or dry off chronically infected cows
Good biosecurity
How do you diagnose Contagious Mastitis?
High/increasing SCC in bulk milk (>750,000)
Culture
Molecular diagnostic tests
What are the pathogens of Contagious Mastitis?
Strep agalac
Staph aureus
Mycoplasma bovis
Corynebacterium bovis
What is the Contagious mastitis treatment?
antibiotics lactation
imtramammary antibiotics at the start of the dry period
Cull from herd
Stop milking or chemically inactivate infected gland
Why is S. aureus mastitis harder to treat than S. agalacae mastitis?
Facultative intracellular pathogen
Resists phagocytosis
Resistant to intramammary antibiotics
some produce beta lactamase
How do you treat Contagious Mastitis?
Select good candidates Use susceptible antibiotic test for Beta-lactamase Treat for extended duration Vaccinate with commercial bacterin Treat at dry off for higher success
What are the control measures for Staphylococcal mastitis?
IMM antibiotics treatment before lacation
Fly control
Nose rings
Vaccinate
Clinical signs of Mycoplasma bovis
Polyarthritis
Respiratory disease
Otitis media
How do you control Mycoplasma bovis?
Dont feed unpasteurized waste milk to calves
vaccinate
What are the common pathogens of Environmental Mastitis?
Coliform bacteria
Streptococci
Staphylococci
Sources of Environemental Mastitis
Intestinal flora
Soil
water
Skin
How do you control environmental mastitis?
Enable cows to lie in clean stalls or clean dry pasture Frequent pasture rotation Proper stocking density Frequent manure removal Periodic clipping or flaming of udders to remove hair to facilitate cleaning of teats Effective pre-milking teat cleaning Regular milking machine evaluation Teat sealant
What is the preferred bedding for Environmental mastitis control?
Sand
When is the gland most susceptible to environmental Mastitis?
dry period`
What are the two types of teat sealants?
External
Internal
Internal teat sealant
infused at dry off and milked out at calving
External teat sealant
Applied after dry off and before calving
Environmental Mastitis Treatment
only treated when clinical with antibiotics
