Mastitis - individual Flashcards
List 5 reasons why mastitis is important in cows
Individual cow welfare (pain),
Loss of milk yield,
Reduced milk quality,
Use of antibiotic treatment
Risk of culling (loss
what can farmers use to test for mastitis next to the cow
California milk test
describe the California milk test
Useful if you suspect milk is abnormal…but not sure?
Thickening of milk and reagent mixture if lots of WBCs present
describe how you examine bovine udder for mastitis
systematic approach
all 4 teats and glands
milk/secretion Beware coldness (gangrene)
What are the different grades of mastitis
Mild- grade 1
moderate- grade 2
severe - grade 3
toxic
describe grade 1 mastitis
clots or milk changes ONLY
describe grade 2 mastitis
clots or milk changes AND swelling or heat in udder tissue
deacribe grade 3 mastitis
clots of milk changes, swelling or heat in the udder and cow is unwell
describe toxic mastitis
cow is recumbant and very sick may occur before changes to the milk
What is toxic more likely to be caused by compared to grade 1 mastitis
gram -ve aetiology
list the environmental mastitis pathogens
strep uberis - gram positive
gram negative- coliforms ( e. coli, kelbsiella spp)
pseudomonas
list the contagious mastitis pathogens
gram positives generally:
Staphylococcus aureus,
Streptococcus agalactiae- not very prevalent any more
Streptococcus dysgalactiae
Can also be caused by mycoplasma
what do you need to consider about strep aureus
Can be resistant to penicillin- but 85% are sensitive to it
what is an aseptic milk sample
minimising contaminants from outside the udder
how is mastitis generally treated
Intramammary antibiotics
NSAIDs
why can clinical mastitis treatment be problematic
pathogen often unknown at time of treatment
mostly treated by farmer
COW factors are the basis for success/ failure
intramammary antibiotics often administered poorly resulting in secondary infection
what route should antibiotics be given for mastitis
should be intra-mammary
little evidence that injectables are better
what is the role of vets when treating clinical mastitis
Prescribe treatment for clinical mastitis events
write treatment protocols
Promote use of NSAIDs as part of clinical mastitis treatment
Provide justification for “category C” antibiotic use?
Monitor treatment outcomes
List 4 COW factors that improve likelyhood that antibiotics are more likely to cure the masitis
younger cows
low cell count cows
not had clinical mastitis before
has it recurred before
what is considered a high cell count in cows
SCC>200 cells/ml
what does high cell count generally mean
generally caused by gram-positives
S. aureus
Enterococcus
s uberis
in high cell count herds what antibiotics should you use
catergory D
penicillin
good activity against gram-positive
what generally causes mastitis in low cell count herds
Mixed pathogen profile, very “environmental”
Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens
○ e.g., E. coli, other coliforms, S. uberis
what do you tend to prescribe to treat mastitis in low cell count herds
Cephalosporin & aminoglycoside, Category C
