Oudessa Kerro Dego

By Oudessa Kerro Dego

Current mastitis control measures are based upon good milking time hygiene; use of properly functioning milking machines; maintaining clean, dry, comfortable housing areas; segregation and culling of persistently infected animals; dry cow antibiotic therapy; proper identification and treatment of cows with clinical mastitis during lactation; establishing udder health goals; good record-keeping; regular monitoring of udder health status and periodic review of mastitis control program. Despite significant effect of these control measures when fully adopted, especially on contagious mastitis pathogens, these measures are not equally adopted by all farmers, and mastitis continues to be the most common and costly disease of dairy cattle throughout the world.

Part of the book: Animal Reproduction in Veterinary Medicine

By Oudessa Kerro Dego

Bovine mastitis is one of the most important bacterial diseases of dairy cattle throughout the world. Mastitis is responsible for great economic losses to the dairy producer and to the milk processing industry resulting from reduced milk production, alterations in milk composition, discarded milk, increased replacement costs, extra labor, treatment costs, and veterinary services. Economic losses due to bovine mastitis are estimated to be $2 billion in the United States, $400 million in Canada (Canadian Bovine Mastitis and Milk Quality Research Network-CBMQRN) and $130 million in Australia per year. Many factors can influence the development of mastitis; however, inflammation of the mammary gland is usually a consequence of adhesion, invasion, and colonization of the mammary gland by one or more mastitis pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus uberis, and Escherichia coli.

Part of the book: Animal Reproduction in Veterinary Medicine

By Oudessa Kerro Dego

Economic losses due to bovine mastitis is estimated to be $2 billion in the United States alone. Antimicrobials are used extensively in dairy farms for prevention and treatment of mastitis and other diseases of dairy cattle. The use of antimicrobials for treatment and prevention of diseases of dairy cattle needs to be prudent to slow down the development, persistence, and spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria from dairy farms to humans, animals, and farm environments. Because of public health and food safety concerns regarding antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial residues in meat and milk, alternative approaches for disease control are required. These include vaccines, improvements in housing, management practices that reduce the likelihood and effect of infectious diseases, management systems and feed formulation, studies to gain a better understanding of animal behavior, and the development of more probiotics and competitive exclusion products. Monitoring antimicrobial resistance patterns of bacterial isolates from cases of mastitis and dairy farm environments is important for treatment decisions and proper design of antimicrobial-resistance mitigation measures. It also helps to determine emergence, persistence, and potential risk of the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and resistome from these reservoirs in dairy farms to humans, animals, and farm environments.

Part of the book: Animal Reproduction in Veterinary Medicine

By Benti D. Gelalcha, Getahun E. Agga and Oudessa Kerro Dego

Mastitis is the most frequently diagnosed disease of dairy cattle responsible for the reduction in milk quantity and quality and major economic losses. Dairy farmers use antibiotics for the prevention and treatment of mastitis. Frequent antimicrobial usage (AMU) undeniably increased antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria from dairy farms. Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (ARB) from dairy farms can spread to humans directly through contact with carrier animals or indirectly through the consumption of raw milk or undercooked meat from culled dairy cows. Indirect spread from dairy farms to humans can also be through dairy manure fertilized vegetables or run-off waters from dairy farms to the environment. The most frequently used antibiotics in dairy farms are medically important and high-priority classes of antibiotics. As a result, dairy farms are considered one of the potential reservoirs of ARB and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). To mitigate the rise of ARB in dairy farms, reducing AMU by adopting one or more of alternative disease control methods such as good herd health management, selective dry-cow therapy, probiotics, and others is critically important. This chapter is a concise review of the effects of antimicrobials usage to control mastitis in dairy cattle farms and its potential impact on human health.

Part of the book: Mastitis in Dairy Cattle, Sheep and Goats

By Jessica Vidlund, Benti Deressa Gelalcha, Stephanie Swanson, Isabella costa Fahrenholz, Camey Deason, Caroline Downes and Oudessa Kerro Dego

Bovine mastitis is the single most costly disease usually caused by Bacteria. The genus Staphylococcus is major bacteria that cause mastitis in dairy cattle. Staphylococci that cause bovine mastitis are commonly divided into two major groups such as 1) Staphylococcus aureus and 2) non-aureus staphylococci (NAS). Staphylococcus aureus causes clinical and subclinical mastitis in dairy cows. Accurate diagnosis of Staphylococcus species can be made by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time Of Flight (MALDI-TOF), 16S RNA gene sequencing, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In well-managed dairy farms that fully applied mastitis control measures, the incidence of S. aureus mastitis significantly reduced. However, staphylococcal mastitis is still major problem in most farms due to variation in management and presence of some species of non-aureus staphylococci in the environment. There is no effective vaccine that prevent staphylococcal mastitis. Treatment with antibiotics is increasingly less effective and increases development of antimicrobial resistant bacteria. Sustainable non-antibiotic staphylococcal mastitis prevention measures such as vaccines, probiotics, good herd health management and other improved methods are required. To develop an innovative control tool detailed understanding of staphylococcal virulence factors, pathogenesis, and host immunological responses is critically important. This chapter discusses the pathogenesis, host responses and current control and prevention methods.

Part of the book: Mastitis in Dairy Cattle, Sheep and Goats