Mastitis Diagnosis Flashcards
What is the widely acknowledged somatic cell count threshold for detection of infection?
200,000 cells/ml
What is meant by ‘Lactation New Infection Rate’?
a. The proportion of cows acquiring a new intramammary infection between milk recordings
What is the typical intervention level for the lactation new infection rate?
5%
How is the ‘Dry Period New Infection Rate’ measured?
The proportion of cows moving from below to above the somatic cell count threshold between the end of one lactation and the beginning of the next
How is the ‘Dry Period Cure Rate’ measured?
The proportion of cows moving from above to below the somatic cell count threshold between the end of one lactation and the beginning of the next
How is the ‘Putative dry period origin rate’ measured?
a. The rate of clinical mastitis cases occurring in the first 30 days of lactation
What is the typical target for dry period origin mastitis incidence?
a. 1 case in every 12 cows
How is the ‘Putative lactating period origin rate’ measured?
a. The rate of clinical mastitis cases occurring after the first 30 days of lactation
What is the typical target for lactating period origin mastitis incidence?
a. 2 cases in every 12 cows
In a herd with a particular problem with dry period origin infections, which of the following mastitis control interventions would be most likely to succeed?
Reducing the stocking density of the dry cows
How do you approach the clinical exam of mastitis?
•Systematic approach to examination
–All four teats and glands
–Milk/secretion
•Look and palpate
–Signs of acute/chronic inflammation – heat and swelling etc.
–Injury/trauma
–Beware coldness of one or more quarters (can be a sign of gangrene)
If access to assess mastitis is difficult what should you do?
–Down cows needs moving to somewhere it can be examined safely and carefully
–Might not be as easy to examine the udder as you might like if they are down and/or in mud!
–Once up, getting them into the parlour often useful, esp for teats (see later for scoring)
–Light important! Have torch in back of the car.
–If mastitis in on DD list – make sure you make a full systemic evaluation
How do you detect abnormal milk? (6)
- There can be clots, watery consistency or sometimes there can be a colour change
- Clinical exam / Fore-milking (legal requirement during milking to ensure safe for human consumption)
–Clots, watery consistency, colour change (grey/yellow/red)
–Fore-milking best way to assess it, some farmers might use in line filters
•Conductivity
–Needs comparison over time and between quarters
–Electrical conductivity, passed through the milk
- Chemical tests (eg Acute Phase prots, NAGase)
- California Milk Test (CMT)
–Detects elevation in SCC
–Crude but a useful indicator for sub-clinical mastitis
•Individual cow somatic cell counts (ICSCC)
–Useful for detecting sub-clinically affected cows
–Often done by dairy herds on a monthly basis
How do you approach california milk test?
Use test kit Reagent
or
Yorkshire pudding tray and diluted washing up liquid (Fairy)
Not the most sensitive so will not detect small changes but can be useful to detect which quarter is affected in a high cell count cow
What are the grades of clincal mastitis?
–Grades of clinical mastitis. Clinical cases are cases detected by the farmer during milking – slots, swelling of udder, sick cow etc. Widely used system for clinical cases
1 = Mild (milk changes only, cell count picked up, udder and cow seems fine)
2 = Moderate (changes in milk and udder signs + inflamm signs in quarter)
3 = Severe (+ systemic signs; Sub acute to toxic)
