Mastitis control 1 and 2 Flashcards
How can you or the farmer know:
- How much clinical mastitis there is on a farm?
- How much sub-clinical mastitis?
- What are the main pathogens causing problems ?
- In parlour monitoring
- Clinical case records
- Somatic cell counts
- Bulk tank bactoscan
- Bacteriology
- Multiplex PCR
How can in parlour monitoring provide information about mastitis in a herd?
Fore milking
Clinical Signs - visual and palpable changes in the udder
In line filters
- Individual
- Main milk filter
California mastitis test
What does the California mastitis test detect?
Can see which 1/4s of the udder are affected
Name 3 causes of photosensitisation
Plant ingestion
Mycotoxicosis
Liver disease
What is the target for the % of a herd affected by mastitis per year?
Less than 20%
A high mastitis recurrence rate is linked to which pathogens?
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus uberis
OR problems with therpay
How is seasonality linked to mastitis pathogens
Environmental when housed, contagious all year round
Milk exceeding a SCC of … will be excluded from the supermarket supply
250,000
How long are cows with SCC of 250,000+ excluded from supermarket supply?
3 months - until under 250,000
How is SCC linked to herd size?
In one survey, as herd size increased SCC decreased
What are the benefits of assessing individual cow cell counts?
- Identifies high cell count cows in herd, identifies chronically infected, stage of lactation
- Use to plan strategies for individual problem cows
How should you interpret an individual cell count of under 100,000 cells/ml?
No infection likely
How should you interpret an individual cell count of 100,000-200,000 cells/ml?
Likely one infected quarter with minor pathogen
How should you interpret an individual cell count of over 200,000 cells/ml?
Infected quarter with major pathogen - quarter not identified
List 4 contagious mastitis pathogens
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus uberis
Streptococcus agalactiae
Streptococcus dysgalactiae
What should happen to milk collected from cows with very high SCC
Dump it - should not enter the bulk tank
Once you have identified problem cows what are the next steps?
- Keep milk from tank if required
- Culture and sensitivity
- Tail tape
- Separate group
- Treat, cull or dry off any high SCC
- Mastitis investigation for underlying risk factors
How should you treat staph aureus and strep uberis infections?
Extended course of intramammary therapy e.g. cloxacillin 6 days or Systemic e.g tylosin
What is a bacteroscan?
An actual count of bacterial numbers in milk
Measured weekly or daily
A raised Bactoscan indicates what possible management problems?
Poor housing hygiene
Poor premilking teat preparation
High levels of mastitis on the farm
Poor plant cleaning
Describe the uses of bulk milk bacteriology
- Very useful for identifying problems in herds with too high bactoscan figures
- Useful as a first line investigation
Which cows should be sampled for individual cow bacteriology?
All clinical cases
High cell count cows: identify infected quarter first
What are the main issues of using individual cow bacteriology?
- Contaminated samples
- Some pathogens only intermittently shed e.g Staphylococcus aureus – no growth
- No growth if had antibiotic treatment
Describe the steps in how to correctly collect a milk sample
- Wear gloves.
- Clean and disinfect and dry the teat
- Discard 10-15 ml of foremilk
- Clean each teat end and orifice for 15-20 seconds with a cotton wool swab which has been soaked in 70% alcohol.
- Sample close teats then far away ones to avoid contamination
- Keep the sample container as close as possible to the horizontal, do not overfill it and do not touch its rim
- Teat-dip afterwards
When interpreting bacteriology what would indicate a good collection technique?
Pure growth of bacteria
More than 3 bacteria present on a bacteriology sample may indicate..?
A contaminated sample - repeat
No growth of a sample on bacteriology may indicate?
Intermittently shed or had antibiotics – repeat
What is the 5 point plan for mastitis?
- Post Milking Teat Disinfection
- Dry Cow Therapy
- Prompt Treatment of Clinical Cases
- Cull chronic cases
- Maintain and Use Milking Machine Properly
The 5 point plan is goof for which mastitis pathogens?
Good for contagious insufficient for environmental
Streptococcus uberis and E coli
Describe adequate housing for mastitis control
Dry, well ventilated housing
Clean dry acceptable cubicles, straw yards
Passageways as clean as possible
How should nutrition be managed to avoid mastitis?
Avoid SARA
Avoid Negative Energy Balance
Adequate Vitamin E and Selenium
Prevent milk fever
How do contagious mastitis pathogens spread?
Spread from cow to cow during milking- milking parlour
How can you prevent cow-cow spread of mastitis pathogens in the milking parlour?
- Post milking teat disinfection
- Properly functioning milking machine
- Milking order/ disinfect cluster
How can you reduce the levels of contagious mastitis pathogens in the herd?
- Prompt and effective treatment during lactation- penicillin sensitive
- Dry Cow Therapy
Which contagious mastitis pathogen is harder to treat?
Staphylococcus aureus
How should staphylococcus aureus be treated?
- Treat for longer periods
- Base on culture and sensitivity if possible because of penicillin resistance
- If near end of lactation: dry off early, dry cow antibiotics +/- systemic antibiotics
- During lactation: extended therapy - 5-8 days intramammary antibiotics, combination of systemic and intra-mammary antibiotics
- Cull chronically infected cows
What are the sources of E.coli
Faeces, bedding
How can E.coli infections be prevented?
- Housing hygiene and comfort esp. dry, calving and early lactation
- Pre milking teat disinfection
- Loafing times
- Dry Cow Management (nutrition, dry cow therapy selection, consider teat sealants)
Startvac vaccine works against which pathogen?
E.coli
UBAC vaccine works against which pathogen?
Strep uberis
How should you begin your mastitis investigation on farm?
- History
- Bacteriology
- Records: nature of problem, Environmental, Contagious, both, How severe it is
- Go on farm with a good idea in your head what might be going wrong
What information should you gather on the history of a farm with mastitis
- Clinical cases, how severe, how many animals affected, recurrent cases, when are they happening, post calving, housed,
- Cell counts: sub-clinical problem, what are cell counts at the moment? how long have they been up for? is it sudden or creeping up over a while? do have individual milk recording?
- Bactoscan pattern and values.
What factors/measurements should you use to analyse the mastitis problem on a farm?
- No clinical cases/ 100 cows per year
- % of herd affected
- Recurrence rate
- Seasonality
- Stage of lactation
- Number of heifer calving down with high SCC,
- % protected in dry period
- % treated in dry period
Once on the farm visit, which aspects of housing should be assessed?
- All accommodation including dry cows
- Number of cubicles, how are the cow’s using them, type of bedding used, size of cubicles
- Hygiene: how often cleaned out
- Passageways, cleanliness, how often cleaned out
- Straw yards, stocking densities
- Calving boxes
- Dry Cow Housing
- Pasture
Which 3 main areas should you look at to hygiene score a cow?
Below hock
Upper leg and flank
Udder
Faecal scoring provided evidence of which disease?
SARA
On the farm visit, which aspects of the milking parlour should be assessed?
- Examine clusters holes, cleanliness
- Observe cows
- Observe vacuum gauge
- Listen for liner slip
- When last serviced – look at invoice and any report
- Teat score
- Management of high cell count and mastitic cows
- Parlour wash up routine
Once the farm vet is completed, as the vet, what are your next steps?
Go away and have a good think!
- Main problem
- Main risk factors identified on farm
- Target advice to that problem
- Need to select key areas that you think are causing the problem
- No use telling them to do everything
- Discuss with farmer and write report with your action plan and how situation needs to be monitored
What would you recommend to do on farm for the dry cows when there are:
- High mastitis rates
- Predominantly environmental pathogens
- Dry Cows paddock and housing high risk environments
- High level hypocalcaemia
- Poor parlour hygiene
- Poor teat skin condition
- Clean out every 3 weeks
- Rotate paddock usage (4 paddock rotation)
- Institute correct dry cow mineral in ration to prevent milk fever
- Use internal teat sealant in combination with dry cow antibiotic tube for infected animals (high cell count at drying off).
What would you recommend to do on farm for the milking herd when there are:
- High mastitis rates
- Predominantly environmental pathogens
- Dry Cows paddock and housing high risk environments
- High level hypocalcaemia
- Poor parlour hygiene
- Poor teat skin condition
- Wear gloves in parlour
- Fore-milk
- Pre-milking teat disinfection (wash in disinfectant then dry with paper towel)
- Disinfect clusters between mastitis cases
- Post milking dip with glycerin
- Loaf for 30 minutes before returning to housing
