Mastitis - Clinical presentation Flashcards
What are the presentations of mastitis?
clinical or subclinical (more common)
Dry period or lactation infection
Contagious (mostly) or environmental
What is a dry cow infection?
One where the cow gets mastitis within the first 100 days after calving (i.e. early lactation)
What is Orbeseal?
An intrammammary suspension to put in the teats to prevent infection.
How do the bacteria generally vary between contagious and environmental causes for mastitis?
There is a scale which works generally: CONTAGIOUS S. agalactiae S. aureau S. dysgalactiae S. uberis E. coli ENVIRONMENTAL
General causes of mastitis
Multifactorial:
Host, environmental, agent
Average UK incidence of mastitis
35 per 100 cows per year (40-70 quarter infections)
SE England: 45 cases/100 cows/year
What is an average bulk tank somatic cell count?
184,000/ml
What does a bulk milk tank reading of <100,000 indicate?
Fewer clinical mastitis cases but typically cases are more severe (e.g. E.coli infections)
Why bother with mastitis?
MILK QUANTITY (actual and potential milk) MILK QUALITY (residues, penalty for high SCC)
Average cost per mastitis case?
£100 per year +/-
What is needed for clinical mastitis?
Pathogen exposure, entry into teat and mammary gland, establishment of infection.
True/false - in mastitis there are always changes in the milk
True (colour, spots, clots etc)
How is clinical mastitis graded?
Grades 1-3
Describe grade 1 mastitis
milk change only, decreased milk yield
Describe grade 2 mastitis
Subdivided into acute and chronic
ACUTE = milk changes, changes in the udder, milk yield decreased
CHRONIC = as acute but persistent changes (udder and milk)