Mastitis - individual

Question 1

List 5 reasons why mastitis is important in cows

Answer 1

Individual cow welfare (pain),
Loss of milk yield,
Reduced milk quality,
Use of antibiotic treatment
Risk of culling (loss

Question 2

what can farmers use to test for mastitis next to the cow

Answer 2

California milk test

Question 3

describe the California milk test

Answer 3

Useful if you suspect milk is abnormal…but not sure?
Thickening of milk and reagent mixture if lots of WBCs present

Question 4

describe how you examine bovine udder for mastitis

Answer 4

systematic approach
all 4 teats and glands
milk/secretion Beware coldness (gangrene)

Question 5

What are the different grades of mastitis

Answer 5

Mild- grade 1
moderate- grade 2
severe - grade 3
toxic

Question 6

describe grade 1 mastitis

Answer 6

clots or milk changes ONLY

Question 7

describe grade 2 mastitis

Answer 7

clots or milk changes AND swelling or heat in udder tissue

Question 8

deacribe grade 3 mastitis

Answer 8

clots of milk changes, swelling or heat in the udder and cow is unwell

Question 9

describe toxic mastitis

Answer 9

cow is recumbant and very sick may occur before changes to the milk

Question 9

What is toxic more likely to be caused by compared to grade 1 mastitis

Answer 9

gram -ve aetiology

Question 10

list the environmental mastitis pathogens

Answer 10

strep uberis - gram positive
gram negative- coliforms ( e. coli, kelbsiella spp)
pseudomonas

Question 11

list the contagious mastitis pathogens

Answer 11

gram positives generally:
Staphylococcus aureus,
Streptococcus agalactiae- not very prevalent any more
Streptococcus dysgalactiae

Can also be caused by mycoplasma

Question 12

what do you need to consider about strep aureus

Answer 12

Can be resistant to penicillin- but 85% are sensitive to it

Question 13

what is an aseptic milk sample

Answer 13

minimising contaminants from outside the udder

Question 14

how is mastitis generally treated

Answer 14

Intramammary antibiotics
NSAIDs

Question 15

why can clinical mastitis treatment be problematic

Answer 15

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

Question 16

what route should antibiotics be given for mastitis

Answer 16

should be intra-mammary
little evidence that injectables are better

Question 17

what is the role of vets when treating clinical mastitis

Answer 17

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

Question 18

List 4 COW factors that improve likelyhood that antibiotics are more likely to cure the masitis

Answer 18

younger cows
low cell count cows
not had clinical mastitis before
has it recurred before

Question 19

what is considered a high cell count in cows

Answer 19

SCC>200 cells/ml

Question 20

what does high cell count generally mean

Answer 20

generally caused by gram-positives
S. aureus
Enterococcus
s uberis

Question 21

in high cell count herds what antibiotics should you use

Answer 21

catergory D
penicillin
good activity against gram-positive

Question 22

what generally causes mastitis in low cell count herds

Answer 22

Mixed pathogen profile, very “environmental”
Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens
○ e.g., E. coli, other coliforms, S. uberis

Question 23

what do you tend to prescribe to treat mastitis in low cell count herds

Answer 23

Cephalosporin & aminoglycoside, Category C

Question 24

T/F treating cows with high cell count (subclinicl) infection during lactation will reduce cell count

Answer 24

False
generally associated with a POOR chance of cure and is poor antibiotic stewardship

Question 25

when will most subclinical mastitis cases be cured

Answer 25

during the dry period with antibiotic dry cow therapy

Question 26

describe internal teat sealants in cows

Answer 26

bismuth subnitrate in paraffin base- orbeseal
no inherent antimicrobial activity

Question 27

T/F Increased chance of cure of subclinical mastitis cases if we dry off cows with dry cow antibiotic and internal test sealant

Answer 27

TRUE

Question 28

what is better at preventing new infections caused by e coli, all enterbacteriaceae - dry cow antibiotic or teat sealant

Answer 28

teat sealant

Question 29

Describe what factors should you use to pick the cows that get antibiotics at dry off

Answer 29

> 200,000 cells/ml on ONE or MORE of the last THREE recordings before drying-off…

and/or clinical mastitis event in last 3 months

Question 30

describe how to aseptically infuse dry cow therapy

Answer 30

strip quarters or milk out completely
wash and dry teats
dip with rapid-acting disinfectant
scrub teat end with surgical spirit
partial insertion of intra-mammary tube nozzle- infuse
post-milking teat disinfection

Question 31

Which bacteria causes summer mastitis

Answer 31

Arcanobacterium (Trueperella) pyogenes- main pathogen involved
Peptococcus indolicus
Streptococcus dysgalactiae

Question 32

describe the aetiology of summer mastitis

Answer 32

disease of dry cows and heifers
transmitted by Hydrotea irritans (sheep head fly)

Question 33

describe the signs seen with summer mastitis

Answer 33

hot, hard, swollen painful quarter
characteristic foul smell
often goes undetected
can lead to abortion
prognosis poor

Question 34

describe how to treat summer mastitis

Answer 34

intra-mammary antibiotics useless
systemic penicillin
regular stripping

Question 35

describe how to control summer mastitis

Answer 35

fly avoidance
fly control
dry cow therapy
teat sealants
stockholm tar