EFFECTIVE MASTITIS CONTROL MEASURES

Control measures are based on practices that prevent cow to cow and quarter to quarter spread, prevent teat injuries and teat canal penetration, deal with residual contamination and colonization of teats and teat lesions, reduce the duration of infection and eliminate the source of infection.

Best Strategies in limiting Mastitis infection rates

• Reduction in duration of infection. This reduces the amount of losses suffered from the infection and includes:

a) Treating all cows with dry cow therapy at drying.
The administration of long acting antibiotics to all quarters of all cows at the time of drying off is expected to cure existing infections and additionally to prevent new infections during the early part of the dry period. Antibiotics administered to non-lactating cows have been designed to create a prolonged local concentration of the drug. The advantages of dry cow therapy are that there are no losses caused by discarded milk
and possibility of antibiotic contaminated milk reaching the consumer is minimal .There is lower infection rates during dry period in cows
that had all quarters infused than in cows in which only the infected quarters were infused.

b)Treat all cases as they occur. This removes the reservoirs of infection and reduces period of milk loss and udder injury.

c) cull all chronic cases
• Reduction in the new quarter infection rate which involves use of teat dips after all milkings, service all milking machines properly, flushing milking machine cups with quartenary ammonium compounds between milkings, use of a new towel for each cow, milk infected cows and quarters last .
• Regular checking of all cows quarters for mastitis. This is done using California Mastitis Test kit or somatic cell count in a herd by a qualified practitioner.
• Maintain a hygienic environment at your farm and especially milking area.

Check also choosing a dairy cow